Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H Bouissou.
The authors report 13 cases of myoepithelial cell proliferation in the breast. One of them is a neoplasm with a predominant myoepithelial component. These proliferations in mastopathies or neoplasms raise important questions concerning differential diagnosis with invasive adenocarcinoma and prognosis.
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The clinicopathological findings in a 49-year-old man who presented multisystemic neurological degenerative disease are reported. The patient presented, at the age of 36, distal upper limb amyotrophy and 8 years later pyramidal signs with fasciculations. In his last year of life, he suffered extrapyramidal hypertonus and mental deterioration. Neuropathological examination showed anterior spinal root and cerebral atrophy. Myelin pallor was mild and predominated on posterior cords. Anterior horn neuronal loss was noted in the spinal cord as well as Alzheimer-type changes in the brain. Inclusion bodies consistent with Lewy bodies were diffusely apparent. The peculiar clinical progression in this case and the extension of neuropathological lesions with inclusion bodies mainly in the substantia nigra and cerebral cortex are an interesting subject of discussion.
Types I and III collagen were identified in four segments of human aorta using pepsin and cyanogen bromide digestion followed by sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Collagen is not uniformly distributed in the different segments of the arterial wall. Collagen type I is always the major collagen present. With ageing collagen type III decrease in quantity from the heart to the distal portion of the aorta. Histologically the elastic tissue is more altered in the lower abdominal section of aorta than in the arch. This study allowed a correlation between morphological observations and biochemical changes.
Autopsy of a 55-year-old man, whose death was due to coronary failure, revealed: localized amyloidosis limited to the leaflets of the atrioventricular valves and their chordae tendinae, with no apparent relationship to atherosclerosis, and deposits of crystallized vegetable hydrocarbons of dietary origin, mainly in the lungs, lymph nodes and liver. Observations of isolated amyloidosis in healthy valves are exceptional. The association with multi-organ deposition of vegetable wax hydrocarbons raises the question of a possible link between these two entities.
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During the healing of a second intention wound, granulation tissue is built up during the inflammatory and detersive phase which commences in the wound edges as soon as the loss of substance is created. Granulation tissue becomes scar tissue via connective and vascular proliferation and epidermization takes place concurrently. The origin of the fibroblasts composing the granulation tissue is debated: monocytes or fibroblasts from the wound edges? Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical data from studies of experimental wounds in the pig and the monkey make it possible to determine their origin and follow their progress. These cells originate from the fibroblasts of the wound edges and become undifferentiated cells which multiply and migrate to reach the loss of substance. There they become activated fibroblasts and contribute to repairing the loss of substance by secreting fibronectin and type I and type III collagen. As differentiated fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, they remodel and contract scar tissue.
The effect of chronic lathyrism on the mandible of the rat was studied. Exostoses, thinning and discoloration of the cortical plates, intraosseous bleeding and hemorrhagic cyst were observed after six weeks of administration of beta-aminoproprionitrile fumarate. The exostoses consisted of homogeneous cellular fibrous tissue containing osteoid, hyalin-like material and abundant ground substance. The cysts were filled with erythrocytes and lined by spindle-shaped fibroblasts, collagen fibers or osteoblast-like cells. Between the cysts, bands and sheets of dense and cellular connective tissue presenting foci of hemorrhage, osteoid and metaplastic cartilage were found. Numerous mast cells were demonstrated with alcian and toluidine blue in the hematopoietic bone marrow, cancellous bone and around the capillary network surrounding the exostoses and cysts. Exostoses have already been studied and explained by the action of BAPN (lysyl oxidase). Hemorrhagic cysts could be explained by histamine release from the mast cells (hypervascularity, hyperemia, increased permeability, rupture and progressive confluence of these small hemorrhagic cysts). Histopathology of the experimental cysts had some points in common with the human aneurysmal bone cyst. Could the pathogenic mechanisms be similar for both lesions?
Since Sherwood's report in 1979, contradictory findings have been published with regarding the treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism with Cimetidine. We studied 16 patients with primary hyperparathyroidism treated with 1,200 mg of Cimetidine and followed-up clinically and biochemically. A decrease in serum calcium and urinary CAMP was observed after the fourth week of Cimetidine therapy with no significant change in parathormone levels. In none of the cases did Cimetidine seem to provide a treatment of hyperparathyroidism, a condition which remains curable with surgery.
Hyperlipaemia was induced by a high fat diet in 11 cynomolgus monkeys. Morphological study of coronary arteries was carried out in 5 coronary samples from these 11 monkeys. The degree of arterial involvement was compared with the serum and cutaneous lipoprotein levels. These experimental data confirm that cutaneous apoprotein B measurement is the best marker for evaluation of coronary atheroma.
An adult dog developed a connective tissue disorder characterized by hyperextensibility of the skin on the head, neck and shoulders. Under light microscopy, the thickness of the dermis was reduced and the collagen bundles were fragmented. Hypodermic lesions appeared as fat necrosis and swelling of the wall of the blood vessels. Electron microscopically, the packing of collagen bundles and fibres in the dermis was highly disorganized and the rough endoplasmic reticulum of fibroblasts showed dilatation of the cisternae. Whereas the dermal lesions were non-specific, this case differed fundamentally from canine inherited collagen diseases in that the clinical features appeared in an old dog and the dermal lesions were only localized and were associated with hypodermal atrophy.
Over the last few decades, a new pathology has appeared, directly related to the modified immune status of the hosts. It presents several distinctive points. The central nervous system is particularly affected. The opportunistic pathogenic agents do not usually injure the brain parenchyma and are not known for their aggressiveness in normal adults (papovavirus). Diagnosis of these different diseases is often difficult, some biological tests being irrelevant because of alterations of the immune system (toxoplasmosis). The lesions may be exclusively located in the brain (tuberculosis, lymphomas) which is not usually affected by these agents. Response to therapy is frequently poor, the clinical course being rapid and fatal. However, therapy may be successful in some cases, justifying the use of somewhat aggressive procedures (biopsy) in order to obtain an accurate diagnosis. It is important to be aware of these data, and an understanding of them may help in managing these already difficult patients. They also make possible some interesting pathogenic hypotheses.
The elastic system of normal human skin was studied by light and immunofluorescence. Oxytalan, elaunin et elastic fibers were stained by weigert, orcein, gomori and Verhoeff. By Verhoeff's method all elastic system of dermis is shown, with other three stains, only elaunic and elastic fibers are well visualized. These results are confirmed by immunofluorescence studies.
Cutaneous and plasma lipids (cholesterol and Apoprotein B) were studied in 2 populations (average age 57.5 years), one with pathological and the other with normal coronary angiography. Skin biopsy was performed during the incision of thoracotomy. The concentrations of Apo B and cholesterol in the skin were compared to those of plasma lipids, lipoproteins and apoprotein B for the diagnosis of atherosclerosis. This study showed that skin Apo B was the best marker of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with plasma Apo B concentrations of less than 1.3 g/l. The skin Apo B concentration was closely correlated to the presence but not to the severity of this arterial pathology. The cardiovascular risk factors of this population, studied separately and in a cumulative manner, confirmed the results of previously published reports.
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Leigh's disease is a subacute metabolic encephalopathy characterized by bilateral and symmetrical lesions of basal ganglia, mid-brain and pons. Lesions are related to an abnormal pyruvate metabolism which mechanisms remain still uncertain. This disease is rare and the authors present a case with complete anatomic study.