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Biomedical subjects

N H Cox

Publications and source records attributed to N H Cox.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Superficial spreading melanoma and blue naevus within naevus spilus--ultrastructural assessment of giant pigment granules.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal melanosomes occur in naevus spilus (NS). OBJECTIVE: To determine whether melanoma arising in NS contains abnormal melanosomes. METHODS: Light and electron microscopy of melanoma within NS and congenital naevus (Case 1), and of blue naevus within NS (Case 2). Light microscopy of additional naevi and melanomas. RESULTS: The melanoma and NS (Case 1) both had large numbers of giant pigment granules (GPGs), demonstrated ultrastructurally to be melanosome macrocomplexes. These were not observed in a congenital naevus (Case 1), or in the blue naevus within NS (Case 2). Small numbers of GPGs were observed in 0/2 NS, 8/16 benign naevi and 11/16 malignant melanomas (MMs). CONCLUSION: NS may be associated with other melanocytic tumours including MM and blue naevi; abnormal melanosomes in NS may also be present in the associated tumour. The prognostic importance of these is unknown, but occasional GPGs in melanocytic lesions are a frequent finding.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Comparison between lentigo maligna melanoma and other histogenetic types of malignant melanoma of the head and neck. Scottish Melanoma Group.

A study of 953 invasive cutaneous malignant melanomas of the head and neck was performed to determine differences between lentigo maligna melanoma and other histogenetic types with regard to patients and sites affected; prognosis was analysed in 595 of these cases. The cases studied comprised all head and neck melanomas registered with the Scottish Melanoma Group between 1979 and 1992, apart from the 3% of cases that were unclassifiable or rare histogenetic types. The histogenetic types of melanoma were 498 (52%) lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM), 237 (25%) superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) and 218 (23%) nodular melanoma (NM). All types increased in incidence throughout the study period. Patients with LMM (mean age 73 years) and NM (mean 68 years) were significantly older than those with SSM (mean 57 years). There were significant anatomical subsite differences related to sex of patients and histogenetic type of melanoma; melanomas on the face were more frequent in females and 90% of LMM occurred at this site, whereas melanomas on the scalp, neck and ears were more frequent in men. Kaplan-Meier estimates of the probability of survival were produced for the 595 of these 953 patients with 5 year follow-up details. In this group of patients the prognostic significance of tumour thickness, Clark level of invasion, ulceration, histogenetic type of melanoma and number of mitoses were studied using stepwise variable selection of procedures. Each of these possible prognostic factors attained individual significance but the tumour thickness was the dominant risk factor in the proportional hazards analysis. When patients were divided into four sex/ulceration subgroups (male/ulcerated, female/ulcerated, male/non-ulcerated, female/non-ulcerated) and analysed by proportional hazards analysis, no variable other than the tumour thickness had any further prognostic effect. Histogenetic type did not remain an independent prognostic variable at this stage. Despite sex and subsite differences, the prognosis for invasive lentigo maligna melanoma does not differ from that for other histogenetic types after controlling for tumour thickness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Woody hands in a patient with pancreatic carcinoma: a variant of cancer-associated fasciitis--panniculitis syndrome.

We report an elderly woman with rapidly progressive painless, woody induration of the hands. Mild diabetes mellitus was demonstrated. Skin biopsy features included broad fibrous bands extending deeply into subcutaneous fat, a mild mononuclear cell infiltrate, and post-thrombotic recanalization of a deep vessel in one specimen. The patient developed uncontrolled haematemesis and was demonstrated at laparotomy to have disseminated pancreatic carcinoma. The unusual clinical features and temporal relationship between the skin changes and the tumour suggest a paraneoplastic eruption. Which appears best classified as an example of cancer-associated fasciitis-panniculitis syndrome.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Milia en plaque--a new site and novel treatment.

Milia en plaque is an unusual eruption typically occurring in the retroauricular area. Two cases of this disorder occurring in a novel position and treated with oral minocycline are now reported.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed1996

Persistent erythema and pruritus, with a confluent histiocytic skin infiltrate, following the use of a hydroxyethylstarch plasma expander.

A 40-year-old woman developed a persistent pruritus with erythema of the head and upper trunk, which started within 2 weeks of a hydroxyethylstarch (HES) infusion and was still present 2 years later. Histological examination demonstrated a striking dermal infiltrate of KP1-positive foamy macrophages which had electron-lucent vacuoles. The timing of the onset, the body site distribution, the exclusion of other possibilities and an appropriate history of high dosage HES infusion, suggested that this was the cause of the eruption. Staining with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) surprisingly was negative but we could not stain HES in vitro with this histochemical stain, and we postulate that the unique extent of the infiltrate and the negative PAS stain in our patient may indicate an impaired ability to degrade this chemical. This may be an important factor in the poorly understood pathogenesis of persistent pruritus induced by HES.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

A case of Sjögren's syndrome, sarcoidosis, previous ulcerative colitis and gastric autoantibodies.

We describe a patient with sicca syndrome, Raynaud's phenomenon and fixed waxy skin lesions. Investigations confirmed both Sjögren's syndrome and sarcoidosis. The patient had previously had ulcerative colitis and other antibody evidence of autoimmunity. The spectrum of disorders reported in association with Sjögren's syndrome and sarcoidosis is wider than suggested in the acronym TASS syndrome (thyroiditis, Addison's disease, Sjögren's syndrome and sarcoidosis), and we suggest that the acronym TOASSUC (thyroiditis, other autoimmunity, Sjögren's syndrome, sarcoidosis, ulcerative colitis) includes a wider range of disorders and may be more memorable.

Autoantibodies↗
PubMed1996

A reticulate vascular abnormality in patients with lymphoedema: observations in eight patients.

We describe eight patients with lymphoedema who had prominent compressible ridges of tissue in a reticulate pattern, situated predominantly on the upper part of the lower leg. In five patients the lymphoedema was primary, two patients had circumferential venous ulceration, and one had marked venous disease with a small ulcer. One patient had a squamous cell carcinoma of the medial thigh and dysplastic keratoses in the distribution of the reticulate ridges. In three of the four cases in whom histological examination of the ridges was performed, the skin at these areas was demonstrated to contain grossly dilated angular vessels in the mid-dermis, many with valves visible. The vessel walls had a single layer of endothelial cells (anti-factor VIII-related antigen positive) and a basement membrane containing type IV collagen. Abnormal elastic tissue in these biopsies was similar to that in erythema ab igne. Indirect lymphography in one case did not demonstrate dilated lymphatic vessels. The body site distribution and clinical pattern of the abnormality appeared to be similar to erythema ab igne but associated with an underlying abnormality of lymphatic rather than blood vasculature. We propose that our cases may represent 'lymphoedema ag igne'.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Wound healing on the lower leg after radiotherapy or cryotherapy of Bowen's disease and other malignant skin lesions.

To investigate lower leg wound healing after treatment of skin tumours, the results of external beam radiotherapy were assessed for 141 lesions in 91 patients. Poor healing or failure to heal occurred in 33%, and was related to the age of the patients, the diameter of the radiotherapy field, and the dose and energy of radiotherapy used. No effect of fractionation on healing was apparent, but only 14% of patients were exposed to regimens with a nominal standard dose of over 1800 rets. Age > 90 years, field diameter > 4 cm and dose > 3000 cGy were all associated with a risk of impaired healing of over 50%. The most frequent single diagnosis (59 lesions) in the radiotherapy patients was Bowen's disease. The results of wound healing in these patients were compared with the results of cryotherapy to 82 lower leg Bowen's disease lesions in 49 dermatology patients. Only 2% of the cryotherapy lesions failed to heal compared with 20% of the radiotherapy wounds, although 6% of cryotherapy cases had local recurrence compared with none in the radiotherapy group. Serial overlapping cryotherapy fields of up to 2 cm diameter were shown to be a valid treatment option for Bowen's disease, as no patients had therapy-related failure to heal. To avoid the requirement for potentially more difficult post-radiotherapy salvage surgery, intra-epidermal non-invasive skin tumours > 4 cm in diameter on the lower leg are probably initially best treated by a primary surgical procedure or by staged cryotherapy. Invasive carcinoma of > 4 cm diameter is best treated by surgical excision.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age Factors↗
PubMed1995

The effect of ketanserin on healing of fresh surgical wounds.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of topical ketanserin, a selective S2-serotonin antagonist, on wound healing and contraction in surgical wounds allowed to heal by second intention. Thirty-five patients applied placebo or 2% ketanserin gel, double-blind, to head and neck wounds resulting from skin tumour excision, and allowed to heal by second intention. Healing rate was assessed from the change in the square root of wound area, and in 11 patients wound contraction was assessed by the change in the area delineated by wound margin tattoo marks. There were no significant differences in any of the measurements made between the ketanserin- and placebo gel-treated patients. Wound healing was significantly faster in large wounds. Wound contraction was greatest in the early stages of healing, and accounted for 53% of healing. We conclude that, on normally vascularized skin, ketanserin gel has no significant effect on wound healing rate.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Body site distribution of Bowen's disease.

Several studies of Bowen's disease suggest that most lesions occur on the head and neck, a finding which does not concur with observations in clinical practice in the U.K. In order to test the hypothesis that this reported distribution is due to an increased tendency of physicians to submit lesions of Bowen's disease occurring at these sites for histopathological examination, in comparison with lesions at other body sites, 52 cases of Bowen's disease identified from out-patient clinic diagnostic records were compared with 56 cases derived from pathology records. In both groups, the majority of lesions were on the lower leg; a greater number in the clinical cases group (45/52; 87%) than in the pathology cases (26/56;46%). The lower leg lesions were almost exclusively in women (96% of lower leg lesions occurred in women in each group). The pathology group contained more men (29%) than the clinical group (12%), and also more upper limb lesions (23% compared with 8% in the clinical group). There was no evidence that these differences were due to incorrect clinical diagnosis, and the likely explanation is that lesions diagnosed as Bowen's disease in men, or at sites other than the lower leg, are more likely to be biopsied than clinically typical lesions on the female lower leg. This type of bias is likely to affect larger series in which only biopsied cases are included, and may explain the discrepancy between observations reported in previous publications and the situation in routine clinical practice.

Aged↗