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Biomedical subjects

M R Wick

Publications and source records attributed to M R Wick.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources

Acute nonlymphocytic leukemia with basophilic differentiation.

Four cases of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia with primitive basophilic differentiation are presented. In all four cases, study revealed Philadelphia chromosome negativity, and in none were there clinical findings of chronic granulocytic leukemia. In each case, the leukemic blasts contained granules that failed to stain for peroxidase content but stained positively with toluidine blue. The former result could have led to the misclassification of the cases as lymphoid leukemias. Three of the four patients had physical findings that may have been due to circulating histamine excess. The histochemical and clinical features of these cases suggest that certain examples of leukemia with basophilic differentiation represent a distinctive variant of acute nonlymphocytic leukemia.

Acute Disease↗

Toxic shock syndrome. A fatal case with autopsy findings.

Although the clinical and laboratory features of the toxic shock syndrome have recently been further defined, the pathologic lesions attending this disorder are as yet primarily unstudied. We present the autopsy findings in a fatal case of toxic shock syndrome, which occurred in a 17-year-old girl. These observations are used as a focus for the discussion of possible pathophysiologic mechanisms operative in this disease and are contrasted with autopsy findings in several other pathologic entities that are often confused with toxic shock syndrome.

Adolescent↗

Thymic neoplasia in two male siblings.

Thymic tumors are uncommon, and malignant variants of such neoplasms are rare. Hence, the association of two siblings with aggressive tumors of the thymus is not likely to be a coincidence. We report on two brothers with thymic epithelial neoplasms, one being a thymic carcinoma and the other an invasive spindle cell thymoma with associated hypogammaglobulinemia.

Adult↗

Angioendotheliomatosis of the nose with fatal systemic dissemination.

Angioendotheliomatosis is a rare intravascular neoplastic process which has been presumed to be of endothelial origin. A 62-year-old woman had manifestations of this disorder which were initially localized to the nasal region, followed by fatal systemic dissemination. Electron microscopic examination of the neoplastic cells disclosed structures interpreted as Weibel-Palade bodies, lending some support to a theory of endothelial histogenesis. Forty cases of angioendotheliomatosis have been previously reported, providing data that help define this disease process as a distinct clinicopathologic entity.

Female↗

Malignant, predominantly lymphocytic thymoma with central and peripheral nervous system metastases.

Histologic features of an invasive mediastinal tumor found in a 25-year-old woman fulfilled the accepted criteria for diagnosis of predominantly lymphocytic thymoma. Histochemical and cell marker studies indicated that the neoplasm contained a preponderance of T lymphocytes. After surgical debulking of the mass, aggressive radiotherapy and chemotherapy eradicated all evidence of thoracic disease. However, six months after the initial diagnosis, rapid development of cranial nerve and brainstem metastases--without detectable recurrent disease elsewhere--resulted in the patient's death. Autopsy examination revealed the presence of peripheral nerve metastases as well. A review of the literature disclosed fewer than 10 cases of central nervous system metastasis from thymoma. In only two of these were there clinicopathologic features similar to those seen in this case.

Adult↗

Sarcomas of bone complicating osteitis deformans (Paget's disease): fifty years' experience.

Osteitis deformans (Paget's disease of bone) may be complicated by osseous cancer. Of 3964 patients between 1927 and 1977, 38 had primary malignant bone tumors. This represents an incidence of sarcomatous change of 0.95%. The bones of the pelvis were most often involved; the humerus and the femur were next in frequency. No region of the skeleton was spared, with the exception of the forearms and hands. Of the 38 tumors, six were fibrosarcomas and 32 were osteosarcomas. Irrespective of the site of involvement, the histopathologic extremely poor. The 5-year survival rate was 7.9%, with a mortality rate of 86.8% 36 months after diagnosis. The main cause of death was pulmonary metastasis or local extension of tumor growth. Three patients were long-term survivors, but no clinical or pathologic elements could be identified which differentiated these survivors from the other patients in the study.

Adult↗

Adenoma sebaceum of Pringle: a clinicopathologic review, with a discussion of related pathologic entities.

"Adenoma sebaceum of Pringle" (ASP) is a misnomer. The tumor is not an adenoma and is not derived from sebaceous glands. The lesion is characterized by dermal fibrosis and associated vascular proliferation and dilatation. Changes in contiguous sebaceous glands and other adnexal structures are merely secondary. Thus, "angiofibroma" would be a more appropriate name. The histologic changes in ASP (and in related pathologic lesions) suggest that it is a hamartoma rather than a true neoplasm. However, the embryologic tissue of its origin is not definitively known.

Adenoma↗

Gastric tumors in patients with pulmonary chondroma or extra-adrenal paraganglioma: an ultrastructural study.

The histogenesis of a distinctive metastasizing intramural gastric tumor found in patients with extra-adrenal paragangliomas, pulmonary chondromas, or both, is unknown. By light microscopy, it has appeared to be of smooth-muscle derivation, and it has been interpreted as being epithelioid leiomyosarcoma. For further clues to its nature, we studied three examples by electron microscopy (two obtained from patients with extra-adrenal paragangliomas and one from a patient with pulmonary chondroma). Ultrastructurally, they were characterized by interdigitating cytoplasmic processes, plasma membrane-associated dense patches, an incomplete basement membrane, junctional complexes, randomly oriented filaments without periodicity, cytoplasmic dense bodies, pinocytotic vesicles, clustering of mitochondria, and rare cilia-features of normal smooth muscle or of smooth-muscle tumors with classic histologic patterns. Thus, the findings suggest that the three tumors we studied are of smooth-muscle derivation.

Adolescent↗

The vomiting patient.

The causes of vomiting can be grouped into two categories, corresponding to the neural sites of emetogenesis--the emesis center (EC) and the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ). Anatomic disorders induce vomiting via the EC, whereas toxic and metabolic problems do so via activity of the CTZ. Antihistamines have antiemetic effects at the EC; phenothiazines and related compounds block vomiting mediated by the CTZ. Thus, a pharmacologic approach to this problem can be logically constructed.

Antiemetics↗

Carcinoid tumor of the thymus: a clinicopathologic report of seven cases with a review of the literature.

Carcinoid tumor of the thymus is a rare neoplasm. Formerly confused with thymoma, a tumor of thymic epithelial cells, carcinoid tumor of the thymus has recently been shown to arise from cells of neuroendocrine origin that are normally present in the thymus. About half of the tumors are either functionally active (usually producing Cushing's syndrome) or are found in association with other endocrine tumors, as part of a multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome. The remainder occur as symptomatic or asymptomatic anterior mediastinal masses, clinically indistinguishable from thymoma. At least 30% of thymic carcinoids are malignant on the basis of local invasion or metastasis or both. A protracted course, with late recurrence of tumor, is not uncommon. Aggressive surgical extirpation, followed by radiotherapy, offers the best hope for cure.

Adult↗

Doxorubicin-enhanced skin reaction after whole-body electron-beam irradiation for leukemia cutis.

This is the first report of doxorubicin (Adriamycin) interacting with whole-body electro-beam irradiation to produce generalized toxic epidermal necrolysis. The patient was a 32-year-old woman with acute myelomonocytic leukemia and leukemia cutis. The severe dermatitis obscured clinical recognition of concomitant pseudomembranous colitis and contributed to the patient's death during management of toxic megacolon. Suggestions are made for minimizing this occurrence in future patients treated in a similar fashion.

Adult↗

Malignant histiocytosis as a terminal condition in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia rarely develops an acute blastic phase as a terminal complication. When it does, the blastic phase is characterized by the appearance of large, immature cells with the same immunologic markers as the cells in the chronic phase of chronic lymphocytic leukemia; this coexistence of mature lymphocytes and blastic forms in chronic lymphocytic leukemia has been termed "Richter's syndrome." In a patient of ours with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the development of a presumed large cell lymphoma was recognized on both bone marrow aspiration and biopsy examination, but later the condition was proved to be a true histiocytic neoplasm (malignant histiocytosis) by cytochemical and immunohistochemical techniques. We are unaware of another reported instance of malignant histiocytosis as a terminal complication of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mimicking Richter's syndrome.

Aged↗