Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach has been designated to a primary gastric adenocarcinoma with minimum criteria of elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein and its histological resemblance to neoplastic liver cells. Of the 1,500 consecutive cases of surgically resected gastric carcinomas during a period of 4 years, we retrieved 14 cases of adenocarcinoma which met the histologic features of hepatoid growth and compared them histologically with 400 consecutive cases of non-hepatoid gastric adenocarcinomas. The patient's age ragned from 32 to 80 years(non-hepatoid group: 25 to 81 years) and their male to female ratio was 3.7 : 1(non-hepatoid group: 1.8 : 1). Grossly, five case were Borrmann type II and another five cases type III. All three cases of early gastric carcinomas were the submucosal type IIc. The remaining one was an advanced gastric carcinoma mimicking early gastric carcinoma. Microscopically, the hepatoid portions varied in growing patterns and arranged in either compact, trabecular or pseudoglandular pattern and gave an immunoreactivity to alpha-fetoprotein and alpha-1-antichymotrypsin. Regardless of the tumor stage, the hepatoid areas were located in the deeper portion of the tumor mass and grew in an expanding/nodular pattern. The associated adenocarcinomatous areas were mostly papillotubular, moderately to well differentiated, and frequently revealed clear PAS-negative cytoplasm reminiscent of the differentiated embryonal carcinoma. Tumor emboli and nodal metastasis were the frequent associations. We assume that the hepatoid adenocarcinoma may develop from gastric'adenocarcinoma through embryonal carcinomatous growth.
Female ; Male ; Humans ; Adenocarcinoma ; Neoplasm Metastasis

The neurenteric cyst with associated anomalies is the result of an ectoentodermal communication that exists during embryogenesis. The variety of lesions include intraspinal cysts, congenital vertebral deformities, thoracic cyst, malformations of the digestive tract, and occasionally, dysrhaphias of the sinodermal or myelomeningocele type. A case of intraspinal neurenteric cyst in a 3-year-old boy is presented. He presented with cyclic abdominal pain, fever and constipation of 30 days' duration. These symptoms progressed rapidly into gait disturbance and left hemiplegia. A single epithelial cyst, located ventral to the spinal cord in the lower thoracic region, traversed the cleft of spina bifida of thoracic vertebrae and connected to retromediastinal cyst. The inner cyst wall was lined with pseudostratified ciliated epithelia and a few squamous cells. The cyst wall contained well-developed muscle coat, myenteric plexuses, and scattered seromucinous glands.
Cysts

It has been well known that liver cirrhosis, regardless of its etiology, is an important predisposing factor in hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the type of cirrhosis in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)-bearing liver varies not only by geographic areas but also with the cirteria applied for morphological classification of cirrhosis. To elucidate the relationship between the nodule size of HCC-bearing cirrhotic liver and clinicopathologic features, we measured cirrhotic nodule areas of 49 surgically resected HCC cases using image analyzer. The morphological type of cirrhosis was predominantly macronodular(49%), and followed by mixed(37%) and micronodular(14%). Seventy percent of the cases showed seropositivity for HBsAg. The average area of cirrhotic nodules was significantly larger in HBsAg-positive cases(mean: 6.14 mm2) than that of HBsAg-negative cases(mean: 2.5 mm2)(p<0.05), and their size was bigger in cases with grossly expansile pattern of HCC than those cases with infiltrative ones(p<0.05). Based on the above findings, we assume that seropositivity of HBsAg may influence on the regenerative activity of cirrhotic nodules and also subsequent increase of risk for further development of HCC. The presence of cirrhohsis and nodule size seem to be the important contributing factors to determine the growing patterns of HCC.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

There have been some controversies on prognostic significance of lymph node (LN) micrometastasis (MM) in advanced gastric carcinomas (AGCs). The present study aimed at 1) determination of prognostic significance of MM, 2) evaluation of the relationship between MM and clinicopathological parameters, and 3) determination of LN group where MMs were frequently found. We studied 70 cases of AGC without LN metastasis on initial examination. The tumors were examined for location, size, depth of invasion, differentiation, histologic type, lymphatic invasion, and c-erbB-2 expression. To evaluate MM, pancytokeratin immunohistochemistry was performed in all LNs from 70 cases of AGCs. Among 2,203 dissected LNs from 70 patients, 37 (1.6%) LNs from 19 (27.1%) patients revealed MM. Micrometastases were seen in only group 1 and 2 LNs: none had group 3 and 4 LN involvement. The gender, age, tumor size, location of tumor, histologic type, differentiation, depth of invasion, lymphatic invasion, and c-erbB-2 expression were not significantly associated with MM status. The survival time of the MM-positive group (mean: 62 months) was significantly shorter than that of the MM-negative group (mean: 72 months) (p=0.046). The findings of this study indicate that the presence of MM in LNs is an important prognostic factor in AGC patients.
Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; Lymph Nodes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis*

A 56-year-old man received subtotal gastrectomy for an early gastric carcinoma type IIa+IIc with submucosal invasion. The tumor was made up of mixed papillo-tubular adenocarcinoma and solid carcinomatous portion, the latter comprising approximately four-fifths of the total tumor mass. The solid portion was confined within the submucosa and revealed a mixture of trabecular, compact and pelioid patterns of large polyhedra cells, resembling hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver(Edmondson-Steiner grade 2). Sinusoid-like vascular stroma of classical trabecular hepatocellular carcinoma intervened the tumor cell nests but was not associated with endothelial-cell lining. Immunohistochemical stainings with alpha-fetoprotein and alpha1-antitrypsin gave a strong reactivity in those areas of hepatoid differentiation and in the adjacent minute portion of adenocarcinoma. The findings suggest that a portion of gastric carcinoma may transdifferentiate into cells with hepatoid features along the line of endodermal lineage.
Male ; Humans ; Adenocarcinoma ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular

An intraparotid benign lymphoepithelial cyst is a rare disease characterized by unilateral painless swelling of parotid region. The histogenesis is controversial. Surgical excision is recommended for diagnosis and curative treatment. We present a case of benign lymphoepithelial cyst arising in a patient with neurofibromatosis. A 46-year-old woman presented with a slowly growing multilocular cystic mass in the left cheek. The cystic mass measured 4 cm in maximal outer diameter and the cystic wall was thick and yellowish pale to gray, soft with well circumscribed margin. Microscopically, the multilocular cyst was lined by stratified squamous epithelium for the most part and underlying lymphoid tissue aggregates with follicles and sharply demarcated from adjacent salivary parenchyma which is of normal appearance and without lymphoid aggregates. Since this lesion is absolutely benign, it is important to separate this benign cyst from cystic salivary gland tumors.
Female ; Humans ; Cysts

Infection with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) leads to gastritis, but the majority of infected persons are asymptomatic, and it has been recently described that the ability of H. pylori to cause more severe disease is related to the presence of the cytotoxin-associated gene A (cagA). We investigated the prevalence of cagA-bearing strains in a group of H. pylori-positive gastritis, and compared the morphologic differences between cagA-positive and cagA-negative cases on H&E stained slides. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for detection of H. pylori and cagA of 62 gastric biopsy specimens were performed. All the slides were analyzed by the updated Sydney system. Forty eight (77.4%) were PCR positive for H. pylori and thirty four (54.8%) were positive for cagA. There were no significant differences in numbers of H. pylori, degree of infiltration of mononuclear cells and degree of atrophy between cagA-positive and cagA-negative groups. The rates of neutrophilic infiltration and intestinal metaplasia were significantly higher in cagA-positive group than in cagA-negative group. In conclusion, the detection of H. pylori by PCR method is more sensitive than that of microscopic examination and H. pylori strains possessing cagA are associated with an enhanced induction of severe gastritis.
Atrophy ; Biopsy ; Gastritis* ; Helicobacter pylori ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Metaplasia ; Neutrophils ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence

An autopsy case of congenital tuberculosis is described in a 41-day-old female infant who was born to a mother having active pulmonary tuberculosis. The primary complex was seen in the liver and portal lymph nodes, and there was a generalized miliary dissemination including lung, liver, spleen, pancreas, adrenals, thyroid, thymus, kidneys, brain, and bowel. The organism was confirmed to be Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The tubercles were histopathologically of various chronicity and characterized by massive caseation and fairly poor peripheral lymphohistiocytic reaction. Giant cell response was also minimal. It should be stressed that although rare, tuberculosis is still an important disease in Korea that can involve fetus or newborn infants if pregnant women are untreated or unnoticed for her tuberculosis.
Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/isolation & purification ; Organ Specificity ; Postmortem Changes ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary/*congenital/diagnosis/pathology

We report an autopsy case of secondary hemochromatosis associated with multiple frequent blood transfusion for the treatment of aplastic anemia. A 23-year-old man had been diagnosed as having aplastic anemia at the age of 13. He received a whole blood transfusion, about 1280 ml, every month during the past 10 years. Recently he developed diabetes mellitus and a congestive heart failure. The autopsy revealed that multiple organs were affected by secondary hemochromatosis, including the liver, heart, pancreas, spleen, bone marrow, stomach, thyroid gland, adrenal glands, and testes. The lungs and liver showed gross and microscopic findings consistent with a congestive heart failure in addition to hemochromatosis. The details are presented. This is a case of rare secondary hemochromatosis occurring in a young man and presenting the classic histopathologic changes indistinguishable from those of primary hemochromatosis.
Adrenal Glands ; Anemia ; Anemia, Aplastic* ; Autopsy* ; Blood Transfusion ; Bone Marrow ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Heart ; Heart Failure ; Hemochromatosis* ; Humans ; Liver ; Lung ; Pancreas ; Spleen ; Stomach ; Testis ; Thyroid Gland ; Young Adult

A case of cystic lymphangioma of the mesentery with severe and persistent abdominal pain in a 22-year-old man is presented. The cyst was filled with chylous fluid. Microscopically, numerous nerve bundles were incorporated within the lymphangiomatous walls, and some protruded into the lumen. The above findings lead to a suggestion that mesenteric lymphangioma may differ from those in the other sites by its abundance of incorporation of nerve bundles into the lymphangiomatous walls, and that increase of tumor size by intracystic accumulation of chylous fluid may subsequently result in increase of intraluminal pressure to compress the nerve bundles with which abdominal pain is much enhanced.
Male ; Humans ; Cysts