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Biomedical subjects

T A Gaffey

Publications and source records attributed to T A Gaffey.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

Peripheral T-cell lymphoma involving the placenta.

BACKGROUND: Placental involvement by maternal malignant lymphoma is a rare complication of pregnancy. METHODS: The case of a 29-year-old woman found to have placental involvement by peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) diagnosed by morphologic study, immunoperoxidase stains, and molecular genetic studies is reported. RESULTS: The lymphoma was pathologic Stage IVB and although there were no adverse consequences for the child, but the neoplasm progressed rapidly during the postpartum period. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical course suggested that the immunologic changes of the pregnancy exerted a lymphoma-suppressive effect on the lymphoma. The authors know of no other report of a patient with placental involvement by PTCL.

Adult

DNA ploidy of ovarian dysgerminomas: correlation with clinical outcome.

Abnormal nuclear DNA content, as determined by flow cytometry, when combined with conventional prognostic variables such as tumor grade or stage at diagnosis, appears to identify patients who are at increased risk for recurrence of disease. The DNA content of ovarian dysgerminoma, a tumor that is homologous to testicular seminoma and is found in young women of childbearing age, was studied to determine if there is a correlation between DNA content and outcome. Such information would be useful in selecting treatment regimens and making possible the preservation of childbearing potential in women who are likely to have a good outcome. The specimens from 23 cases of ovarian dysgerminoma seen at our institution between 1950 and 1985 were analyzed by DNA flow cytometry. Five of the tumors were diploid (21%) and nineteen were nondiploid (79%). Patient outcome was not predicted any better by nuclear DNA content than by conventional prognostic variables.

Adult

A genetic review of complete and partial hydatidiform moles and nonmolar triploidy.

Complete and partial hydatidiform moles are genetically aberrant conceptuses. Usually, complete moles have 46 chromosomes (diploidy), all of paternal origin. Most partial moles have 69 chromosomes (triploidy), including 23 of maternal origin and 46 of paternal origin. Triploidy that involves 23 paternal chromosomes and 46 maternal chromosomes is not associated with molar placental changes and, rarely, can result in a live-born infant with multiple birth defects. Herein we review the mechanisms of fertilization that may produce these unbalanced sets of parental chromosomes and the role of genomic imprinting as a possible explanation for these clinical conditions.

Female

Humoral hypercalcemia associated with a dysgerminoma.

A 16-year-old girl sought medical attention at the Mayo Clinic because of a 4.5-kg weight loss, hypercalcemia, and a pelvic mass. Preoperatively, the level of the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin was 147 IU/liter. After a brief period for observation and hydration, abdominal exploration revealed a stage III dysgerminoma; total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed. Within the dysgerminoma, syncytial giant cells expressed human chorionic gonadotropin-positive immunostaining in the cytoplasm. Postoperatively, the value of the beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin decreased rapidly. The patient received whole-abdomen irradiation 4 weeks postoperatively, after which the level of calcium returned to normal. The patient has been free of disease for more than 7 years.

Adolescent

Stage I squamous cell cancer of the vulva.

A review of 106 patients with Stage I squamous cell cancer of the vulva treated at the Mayo Clinic from 1950 through 1975 is presented. Microinvasive lesions (5 mm penetration or less) were present in 96 patients (91%); invasive lesions (more than 5 mm penetration) were diagnosed in 10 (9%). Inguinal node involvement was present in nine patients (8.4%); one of these also had pelvic node involvement. Recurrence developed in 13 patients (12%). Four patients experienced inguinal node metastasis after initial surgical therapy. The incidence of positive nodes among patients with lesions invading the stroma for 3 mm or less was 3%. Thus, individualization for inguinal lymphadenectomy may be possible according to the age and condition of the patient when the depth of invasion is 3 mm or less.

Adult

Endometrial cancer associated with feminizing ovarian tumor and polycystic ovarian disease.

Feminizing ovarian tumors and polycystic ovarian disease may cause endometrial cancer by abnormal, unopposed endogenous estrogenic stimulation. We reviewed the clinical course of 72 endometrial cancer patients with a concomitant feminizing ovarian tumor or polycystic ovarian disease and compared tumor characteristics and treatment results with those exhibited by 523 patients treated for endometrial cancer alone. With functioning ovarian tumor and with polycystic ovaries, the cancer tended to be more often low-grade, low-stage, and superficial than did endometrial cancer alone. The high 5-year and 10-year survival rates observed in our functioning ovarian tumor-polycystic ovary patients support the conclusion that endometrial carcinoma with a coexistent endogenous estrogenic stimulus has a more favorable prognosis (P less than 0.01) than endometrial carcinoma alone.

Adult

Solitary leiomyomas arising from the tunica dartos scroti.

Of 127 patients with primary neoplasms of the scrotal wall 10 had a solitary leiomyoma arising from the tunica dartos. These benign asymptomatic lesions occur in middle-age white men and are often incorrectly diagnosed. Simple surgical excision is curative. The 11th case is described because of the malignant course that followed irradiation. A cell arising from single smooth muscle cells within the corium is proposed as the cell of origin.

Adult

Outpatient diagnostic aspiration curettage.

A series of 250 patients underwent aspiration curettage; 206 of the 250 underwent the procedure in the office without anesthesia. Patient acceptance of the method was good. Hysterectomy or follow-up dilatation and curettage within 24 hours in 97 patients revealed that the diagnosis was correct in 91% of the cases. The method provides an excellent endometrial specimen for histologic examination, has little risk for the patient, and saves considerable time and cost.

Adolescent

The primary surgical treatment of carcinoma of the breast: a changing trend toward modified radical mastectomy.

To study the effectiveness of a trend at the Mayo Clinic toward modifying the standard radical mastectomy, the 5-year survival of 873 women treated surgically for breast cancer from 1965 through 1968 was evaluated. The observed survival of 534 patients treated by the standard radical mastectomy was 85% when nodes were negative and 56% when nodes were positive. For 339 patients treated by the modified radical mastectomy, the observed survival was 80% and 48% when axillary nodes were negative and positive, respectively. In order to accomplish a more significant analysis of cancer risk and results of the two operative procedures, a relatively homogeneous group of 541 patients was established from the total group. In this homogeneous group, the observed survival of 336 patients treated by the standard radical mastectomy was 86% when nodes were negative and 66% when nodes were positive. For 205 patients treated by the modified radical mastectomy, the observed survival was 84% and 66% when axillary nodes were negative and positive, respectively. When patients were further analyzed and compared according to the extent of axillary-node involvement, age at the time of treatment, grade, size, location, and histopathologic type of tumor, and the use of postoperative irradiation, survival was essentially the same, irrespective of the type of mastectomy performed.

Adult

Small-bowel obstruction secondary to endometriosis.

Though endometriosis is a frequent finding in females, it rarely causes obstruction of the small bowel. However, 11 patients with such obstruction were seen at the Mayo Clinic in the years 1950 through 1970. Their ages ranged from 27 years to 51. A portion of involved bowel had to be resected in every case, but most of the lesions were single. Generally the obstructions were subacute and did not produce surgical emergencies. But because the symptoms were neither specific nor acute, the diagnosis seldom was established prior to laparotomy and the majority of the resections were performed without bowel preparation. Nevertheless, morbidity was minor in most cases and there was no mortality. Small-bowel obstruction has not recurred. Endometriosis of the small bowel tends to be limited to the serosa and the muscular coats, not penetrating the mucosa; and obstruction is due to fibrosis and kinking of the bowel. The obstructed segment usually must be resected. If pelvic endometriosis is minimal, no further surgery is necessary. But if the pelvic lesions are extensive, or if multiple sites in the small and large intestines are involved, then more radical resection and bilateral oophorectomy are indicated.

Adult