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Biomedical subjects

P Pfitzer

Publications and source records attributed to P Pfitzer.

89 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Lavage fluid from continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. A model for mesothelial cell changes.

Continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) lavage can be interpreted as an artificial short-term ascites. The cellular content of 362 CAPD specimens from 32 patients was investigated. Irregular inflammatory reactions were seen in 85.3% of the specimens and eosinophilia in 27.6%. Mesothelial aggregates of great variability were registered in 59.4% of the specimens and mainly atypical mitoses in 7.5%. The cytologic changes seen in those patients from whom lavage fluids were examined over 10 to 12 months did not correlate with the changes in blood chemistry (BUN and creatinine) in those cases.

Ascitic Fluid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Nonspecific esterase activity of human alveolar macrophages in routine cytology.

Alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) activity in alveolar macrophages was demonstrated in air-dried smears from samples of 82 sputa, 47 bronchial secretions and 14 bronchial lavages from 113 patients. Enzyme activity was estimated by a semiquantitative scoring method. There was a 7.4% loss of activity after 24 hours of storing the unfixed material, increasing to 14.4% after three days, while storing the air-dried smears for up to four weeks did not change the ANAE activity. The mean cellular esterase activity was correlated to the clinical and cytologic findings. A stringent correlation could be found for patients smoking more than 30 cigarettes a day; they had a 17% increase in activity as compared to nonsmokers. In patients with bronchial asthma, the activity was 18% higher than the total mean. In three patients with pulmonary embolisms, the ANAE activity was also increased. Treatment with a combination of cytostatics and a corticoid caused a severe decrease. No correlation could be found to age, sex, inflammation or malignant or cardiac diseases. These findings indicate that the application of the ANAE reaction to routine cytologic specimens can contribute to the functional characterization of human alveolar macrophages.

Asthma↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Primary malignant melanoblastosis of the meninges. Clinical, cytologic and neuropathologic findings in a case.

A 66-year-old man presented with a six-month history of neurologic symptoms suggestive of a craniospinal tumor or a diffuse inflammatory process in the subarachnoid space. Cytologic examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) revealed inflammatory changes and malignant melanin-containing cells, leading to a diagnosis of meningeal spread of a melanoma. There was no history of skin excisions and no clinical evidence of primary melanoma of the eye. Neuroradiologic investigations, including CT and myelography, to confirm the diagnosis were negative. Despite intrathecal cytostatic therapy, the patient died eight months after the onset of symptoms. Autopsy disclosed diffuse meningeal melanoblastosis of the spinal cord and the base of the brain, confirming the cytologic diagnosis. In addition, two micrometastases in the liver were found as only extraneural manifestation. This case emphasizes the importance of CSF cytology in the diagnosis of diffuse infiltrating processes in the subarachnoid space.

Humans↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Acellular bodies in sputum.

From 70 patients 68.3 +/- 10.1 years of age, 260 sputum specimens containing various acellular bodies were evaluated. This corresponded to 1% of all sputum specimens examined. The round to oval bodies were mostly concentrically structured and displayed different, partly amorphous, partly crystalline components. The periodic acid-Schiff stain was usually positive in these smears, 52% of which contained birefringent bodies. The average diameter was 25 +/- 10.9 micron. While intersample and intrasample frequencies of such bodies were extremely variable, a correlation with an increased number of Curschmann spirals and the degree of inflammation was observed (P less than 0.02). There was a correlation with neither sex, smoking habits nor most types of cancer. A positive correlation existed with chronic obstructive bronchitis, cor pulmonale, obstructive pulmonary diseases and one case of adenocarcinoma of the lung. This finding was confirmed by eight of ten new cases. The formation of the bodies can be intraalveolar, comparable to microliths, in the bronchial glands, corresponding to sialiths, and by intrabronchial mucus condensation, eventually around structures serving as cores. Changing frequencies in repeat investigations demonstrated a presumably rapid formation.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cytology of the cerebrospinal fluid in primary malignant lymphomas of the central nervous system.

Two cases of primary malignant lymphoma of the central nervous system are reported. Clinical and pathologic findings did not indicate systemic lymphomatous involvement of lymph nodes and bone marrow. The patients presented with different neurologic deficits. Cytologic examination of the cerebrospinal fluid was the first and most useful technique for establishing the diagnosis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Blind pleural biopsy in combination with cytology of pleural effusions.

The efficiency of a combination of blind pleural biopsy and pleural cytology was examined in a retrospective study of 181 cases observed between 1968 and 1978. The material contained 64 confirmed cases of malignant tumors and 20 of tuberculosis. Of the tumors, 81.3% were diagnosed by one or both methods; 18.7% remained negative. In 53% of the cases, the positive diagnoses corresponded between the two methods; in 26.6% the tumor was found only by cytology and in 10.9%, only by histology. Repeat investigations slightly improved the results with both methods. Reasons for false-negative cytology were bad preservation, fibrosis, nonexfoliative tumors and a mistake of preparation in one case. False-positive results occurred twice in histology, and two cases judged highly suspicious by cytology proved to be clinically negative. In cases of tuberculosis, histologic diagnosis was superior to microbiologic diagnosis.

Biopsy, Needle↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Cerebrospinal fluid and metastasis of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.

Two cases are presented of cerebrospinal fluid with tumor cells metastatic from transitional cell carcinomas of the bladder. They demonstrate that in spite of the rarity of transitional cell carcinoma's metastasizing to the central nervous system (0.4% to 0.6%), it is necessary to consider the bladder as the primary site and to obtain urinary cytology in such cases when the primary tumor is still unknown.

Aged↗