Clear cell meningioma is a recently recognized morphologically unique entity. It shows no sex predilection, affects primarily the lumbar region, and the cerebellopontine angle. Despite its benign appearance, it may be aggressive, particularly in intracranial cases. All lesions are moderately cellular, with the exception of stromal hyalinization. The tumor consists largely of a sheet- like or somewhat lobular pattern of polygonal cells, the cytoplasm of which is clear. No close association is noted between the recurrence or the clinical outcome and factors such as mitotic activity, the PCNA index, and the DNA ploidy status. But the MIB-1 proliferation index is appreciably higher in recurrent tumors. We experienced a case of clear-cell meningioma showing a characteristic histologic finding. A 39-year-old man was admitted due to the recent onset of right-sided, facial-nerve palsy, left hemiparesis and general weakness. A CT scan of the head showed a well defined mass in the petroclival area. After surgical resection, the patient was in good condition, but 1 year later symptoms recurred. A CT scan of the head showed a huge, recurrent petroclival tumor with adhesion to the surrounding brain parenchyme.
Adult ; Brain ; Cerebellopontine Angle ; Cytoplasm ; DNA ; Head ; Humans ; Hyalin ; Lumbosacral Region ; Meningioma* ; Paralysis ; Paresis ; Ploidies ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Recurrence ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Gastrointestinal angiodysplasia is a distinct disease entity which causes frequent gastrointestinal bleeding. It predominantly arises at the stomach and duodenum in the upper gastrointestinal tract and cecum and ascending colon in the lower gastrointestinal tract. The general histological finding of the angiodysplasia is a submucosal vascular ectasia and tortuosity. We have experienced two cases of the intestinal angiodysplasia. The first case occurred on a jejunum in a 22-year-old woman who had anemia. The second case occurred on a sigmoid colon in a 59-year-old man who had constipation. In addition to the general histologic finding of the angiodysplasia, the microscopic findings of the first case revealed some capillary hemangioma-like areas; and in the second case, there was a marked ischemic change and the thickening of the wall.
Anemia ; Angiodysplasia* ; Capillaries ; Cecum ; Colon, Ascending ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Constipation ; Dilatation, Pathologic ; Duodenum ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Jejunum ; Lower Gastrointestinal Tract ; Middle Aged ; Stomach ; Upper Gastrointestinal Tract ; Young Adult

Achondrogenesis type 2 is a lethal form of congenital skeletal dysplasia characterized by severe short-limbed dwarfism, decreased vertebral ossification and normal ossification of the skull. We report an autopsy case of achondrogenesis type 2 in a female fetus terminated at 29 weeks of gestation. External morphology revealed a relatively large head, short upper and lower extremities, short neck, and distended abdomen. The x-ray finding showed normal calvarial ossification, hypoplastic ilium and unossified ischium, and metaphyseal flares of the femur and tibia. Histologically, chondrocytes were large and irregular with increased vascularity.
Abdomen ; Autopsy* ; Chondrocytes ; Dwarfism ; Female ; Femur ; Fetus ; Head ; Humans ; Ilium ; Ischium ; Lower Extremity ; Neck ; Pregnancy ; Skull ; Tibia

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis can be induced by various anticancer agents. Resistance to apoptosis may play an important role in tumors refractory to chemotherapy. The authors investigated both the induction of apoptosis by camptothecin, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, in gastric cancer cell lines and the roles of apoptosis-elated gene products. METHODS: Two gastric cancer cell lines, SNU- and SNU-6, were examined for response to chemotherapeutic agents. Cytotoxicity was determined by a MTT assay. Apoptosis was measured by a DNA fragmentation assay using agarose gel electrophoresis and electron microscopy. Apoptosis-elated gene products were determined by western blot analysis. RESULTS: The two gastric cancer cell lines (SNU- and SNU-6) showed different sensitivities to camptothecin. Apoptosis of SNU-6 was easily induced by camptothecin, while SNU- was refractory to apoptosis, which was confirmed by DNA fragment assays and electron microscopy. Western blot analysis revealed that the amount of Bcl- in SNU- was 2.68-imes more than that in SNU-6. There were no differences in the levels of Bax, Bcl-L, Bcl-s, and p53 between the two cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: It is thought that Bcl- may play an important role in blocking cell death due to anticancer drugs in gastric cancer cell lines. Thus, chemosensitivity might be increased if this cell death-locking status were to be modified by new biologic therapies for gastric cancer.
Antineoplastic Agents ; Apoptosis* ; Biological Therapy ; Blotting, Western ; Camptothecin ; Cell Death ; Cell Line* ; DNA ; DNA Fragmentation ; DNA Topoisomerases, Type I ; Drug Therapy ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; Microscopy, Electron ; Stomach Neoplasms*

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis of any degree of severity or duration may develop necrotizing granulomatous pleuritis, a morphologic replica of the inflammatory reaction characteristic of rheumatoid synovitis and rheumatoid nodules. The principal feature is the background composed of granular, amorphous, particulate material or debris of various hues. The material is sometimes eosinophilic, sometimes more cyanophilic, or even green in the Papanicolaou stain. Within this background are elongated, fibroblast-like epithelioid cells, numerous multinucleated giant cells and degenerating leukocytes. The combination of the debris, spindle epithelioid cells, and multinucleated giant cells in fluid is pathognomonic for rheumatoid pleuritis. We experienced a hcase of rheumatoid pleuritis showing these characteristic cytologic findings. The patient was a 63 year-old man with positive rheumatoid factor. The pleual fluid specimen revealed elongated epithelioid cells and multinucleated giant cells in a background of amorphous granular material.
Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Eosinophils ; Epithelioid Cells ; Giant Cells ; Humans ; Leukocytes ; Middle Aged ; Pleural Effusion* ; Pleurisy* ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Rheumatoid Nodule ; Synovitis

Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast is a morphologically heterogenous group of neoplasms characterized by ductal adenocarcinoma with extensive squamous differentiation, a spindle-cell pattern of growth, and/or heterologous mesenchymal elements. We experienced a case of metaplastic carcinoma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration(FNA) and confirmed by radical mastectomy in a 46 year-old woman. The FNA cytologic findings included atypical squamous cells with kertinization lying singly and in clusters in a necrotic background. In addition, scattered spindle cells with pleomorphic large nuclei and prominent nucleoli were present in a hemorrhagic and necrotic background. The histopathologic findings showed moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and highly pleomorphic sarcoma with chondroid component. The immunohistochemical stain revealed focal positive reaction for cytokeratin as well as diffuse reactivity for vimentin in the sarcomatous area.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; Carcinosarcoma ; Deception ; Female ; Humans ; Keratins ; Mastectomy, Radical ; Middle Aged ; Needles ; Sarcoma ; Vimentin

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical effects of conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection through conjunctival incision in anophthalmic patients with mild ptosis. METHODS: Conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection was performed by one surgeon in 8 patients (8 eyes) who had received evisceration or enucleation and responded to 10% phenylephrine solution to correct ptosis. The average age of the patients was 35.87+/-13.4 years. Ptosis was seen from 1 to 34 months after evisceration or enucleation. The preoperative MRD 1 was -2 to 0.5 mm (average: -0.25+/-1.10 mm) and the difference of MRD 1 between before and after 10% phenylephrine use was 2.56+/-0.98 mm. The Muller muscle was resected 7.5 to 9 mm through conjunctival incision during surgery to match the MRD 1 of sound eye. Mean follow-up period after the operation was 2 to 16 months (average: 8.1 months). RESULTS: Postoperatively, the MRD 1 increased by 1.81+/-0.88 mm on the average, corresponding to the improvement in lid elevation after the use of 10% phenylephrine performed before resection. Surgery was successful in most patients, and postoperative difference in MRD 1 was less than 1 mm from the sound eye. No special postoperative complication was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection is one of the effective methods of correcting mild ptosis in anophthalmic patients.
Adult ; Anophthalmos/*complications ; Blepharoptosis/etiology/*surgery ; Conjunctiva/*surgery ; Eyelids/physiopathology ; Facial Muscles/*surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Contraction ; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures/*methods ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical effects of conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection through conjunctival incision in anophthalmic patients with mild ptosis. METHODS: Conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection was performed by one surgeon in 8 patients (8 eyes) who had received evisceration or enucleation and responded to 10% phenylephrine solution to correct ptosis. The average age of the patients was 35.87+/-13.4 years. Ptosis was seen from 1 to 34 months after evisceration or enucleation. The preoperative MRD 1 was -2 to 0.5 mm (average: -0.25+/-1.10 mm) and the difference of MRD 1 between before and after 10% phenylephrine use was 2.56+/-0.98 mm. The Muller muscle was resected 7.5 to 9 mm through conjunctival incision during surgery to match the MRD 1 of sound eye. Mean follow-up period after the operation was 2 to 16 months (average: 8.1 months). RESULTS: Postoperatively, the MRD 1 increased by 1.81+/-0.88 mm on the average, corresponding to the improvement in lid elevation after the use of 10% phenylephrine performed before resection. Surgery was successful in most patients, and postoperative difference in MRD 1 was less than 1 mm from the sound eye. No special postoperative complication was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Conjunctiva-Muller muscle resection is one of the effective methods of correcting mild ptosis in anophthalmic patients.
Adult ; Anophthalmos/*complications ; Blepharoptosis/etiology/*surgery ; Conjunctiva/*surgery ; Eyelids/physiopathology ; Facial Muscles/*surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle Contraction ; Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures/*methods ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

Hamartomas are the most common benign neoplasms of the lung. However, multiple pulmonary hamar-tomas are veryrare. We describe the radiographic findings of multiple pulmonary hamartomas without Carney's or pulmonaryhamartoma syndrome with review the literature describing to this entity.
Hamartoma* ; Lung

Pulmonary siderosis is one kind of pneumoconiosis caused by the long term inhalation of iron dust. Iron is deposited in the lungs, usually in the form of iron oxides. Iron oxides are relatively inert particles with a minimal fibrotic response. It occurs in a number of occupations including welding, steel rolling and grinding, casting, iron ore mining and oxyacetylene cutters. We have experienced the first case of pulmonary siderosis in Korea. A 42-year-old woman who had engaged in a metalware manufacturing factory as a manager for 7 years was admitted because of dyspnea on exertion. A pulmonary function test disclosed a mildly obstructive ventilatory defect. Open lung biosy revealed deposition of iron-laden macrophages in most alveolar spaces by which confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary siderosis. We report a case of pulmonary siderosis with a review of the literature.
Adult ; Diagnosis ; Dust ; Dyspnea ; Female ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Iron ; Korea ; Lung ; Macrophages ; Mining ; Occupations ; Oxides ; Pneumoconiosis ; Respiratory Function Tests ; Siderosis* ; Steel ; Welding