Esophageal involvement by malignant lymphoma is extremely rare. A case of follicular lymphoma of the esophagus, misdiagnosed as focal lymphoid hyperplasia (pseudolymphoma) in a 72-year-old man is presented. The esophagogram revealed diffuse narrowing of the lumen in the middle and distal portion without ulceration. The resected esophagus showed mural thickening without any remarkable mucosal change. Microscopically, the esophagus showed scattered follicular lymphoid aggregates in the submucosa, extending into periadventitial fat tissue. Most follicles were devoid of germinal center and consisted of loosely aggregated small cleaved cells without atypia. The surrounding stroma of the submucosa showed dense fibrosis entrapping the infiltrating small lymphocytes in a "indian-file" appearance. There were some reactive follicles with germinal center. In the lamina propria, many plasma cells and a few eosinophils were infiltrated. The gene rearrangement study showed rearranged band for Jk probe which confirmed monoclonal B-cell nature of infiltrated small lymphoid cells. The small cleaved lymphocytes arranged in follicles were positive for L26 and bcl-2 protein. This case demonstrated the necessity of immunophenotypic and gene rearrangement study in the diagnosis of pseudolymphoma in the digestive tract.
Male ; Humans

Eosinophilic cellulitis is a rare dermatosis originally described by Wells as "recurrent granulomatous dermatitis with eosinophilia", then called Wells' syndrome. The etiology is unknown, although a hypersensitivity mechanism is suspected. Flame figures are considered as a characteristic histologic feature of Wells' syndrome. To clarify the nature of eosinophilic cellulitis and its flame figures, the authors have reviewed five cases of eosinophilic cellulitis with its clinical and histopathologic findings. Cutaneous lesions were variable in appearance and was confused with angioedema, urticarial vasculitis, erydiema multiforme, morphea or granuloma annulare. Microscopically, early lesions (2-7 days) showed diffuse dermal eosinophilic infiltration with widespread degranulation, sometimes extended into the underlying muscle. Subepidermal bulla was present in one case. Subsequently, granulomatous features with characteristic "flame figures" became apparent (several months). Collagen alteration by eosinophilic granules resulted in flame figure formation and a granulomatous response. In two patients, there were possible relationships between drug and flare-ups of eosinophilic cellulitis, but the others, no contributory precipitating factors were found. We think that eosinophilic cellulitis represents a severe anaphylactic hypersensitivity reaction to various stimuli showing characteristic histopathology with recurrent episodes and frequent hypereosinophilia in the peripheral blood.

Electron microscopic study of two malignant fibrous histiocytomas confirmed the presence of previously described tumor cells in the literature. In addition, there existed intermediate cells with morphologic features of both myofibroblasts and histiocytes, or both histiocytes and smooth muscle cells. Our result supported the idea that malignant fibrous histiocytoma may be derived from the undifferentiated mesenchymal cells that differentiate primarily along a fibroblastic and histiocytic cells.

No abstract available.
Holoprosencephaly*

Primary pulmonary hemangiopericytoma is a rare, potentially malignant tumor and assumes more malignant course than that originated in the soft tissue. It can be asymtomatic until attaining a large size within the lung. We report a case of malignant hemangiopericytoma of the lung in a 29 year old man. It represented as a sharply demarcated, huge homogeneous opaque mass in the right upper lobe. The cytologic and histologic features were that of malignant hemangiopericytoma.

Carcinosarcoma of the female genital tract, also called malignant mixed mullerian tumor (MMMT), is a rare and relatively aggressive tumor with various homologous and heterologous components. There have been various studies to find prognostic factors and to investigate the histogenesis, including tissue culture, electron microscopy, and immunohistochemical studies. We investigated carcinomatous, sarcomatous, and transitional areas of 6 cases of carcinosarcoma of the uterus and ovary by using epithelial and mesenchymal markers. Immunohistochemical profiles of the transitional areas were significantly different from those of carcinomatous and sarcomatous areas. Immunoreactivities for cytokeratin and epithelial membrane antigen (50% and 22.2%) were weaker than those of carcinomatous areas (95.2% and 100%), but stronger than those of sarcomatous areas (11.1% and 5.6%)(p<0.01). In transitional areas, vimentin, smooth muscle actin and S-100 protein were more strongly expressed than in carcinomatous areas, but more weakly expressed than in sarcomatous areas (p<0.01, p<0.01, and p=0.018, respectively). Myoglobin was entirely negative in carcinomatous areas and immunoreactive in minor portions of transitional and sarcomatous areas (22.2% and 16.7%, respectively). These results suggest that the transitional areas are between the carcinomatous and sarcomatous nature in differentiation, further supporting that the carcinosarcomas of the female genital tract may arise, through metaplastic change, from a type of carcinoma.
Actins ; Carcinosarcoma* ; Female* ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; Metaplasia ; Microscopy, Electron ; Mucin-1 ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myoglobin ; Ovary ; S100 Proteins ; Uterus ; Vimentin

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the urinary bladder is an unusual, benign mesenchymal proliferative lesion of the submucosal stroma easily mistaken for a malignant neoplasm clinically and histologically. We present a case and describe the clinical presentation and radiologic, histologic, histochemical, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural findings. A 23-year old patient presented with sudden onset of gross painless hematuria for 3 months. There was no previous instrumentation or surgery involving the genitourinary tract. Cystoscopy revealed a large polypoid and ulcerated bladder mass. The lesion consisted of plump spindle shaped, fibroblast-like cells embedded in a myxoid stroma. Mitotic figures were negligible and the lesion showed encroachment on the superficial muscle bundles. The spindle cells were immunoreactive for vimentin and muscle specific actin. Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural findings revealed the fibroblastic-myofibroblastic nature of this lesion. Complete surgical excision by partial cystectomy was successful in eradicating the lesion. The findings are described with a discussion of the pathogenesis and review of the literature.

Percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty(PMV) was comparable to surgical commissurotomy in initial and long term follow-up results in selected patients with symptomatic severe mitral stenosis. Transseptal puncture was necessary for antegrade introduction of balloon. In patient with kyphoscoliosis, PMV was relatively contraindicatied due to difficulty and risk of septal puncture. We performed the PMV in a patient with kyphoscoliosis and severe mitral stenosis. The patient was presented with NYHA class III. Echocardiographic evaluation revealed mitral valve area of 0.8cm2 and mean diastolic pressure gradient of 12mmHg. X-ray film of T-L spine showed severe kyphoscoliosis. Transseptal puncture was possible with modification of angle of Brockenbrough needle at the site of 15cm from the needle tip. After transseptal puncture, Inoue balloon was introduced into the LV and gradual ballooning was performed with optimal results. Hemodynamic variable were improved immediately after intervention and mitral valve area was increased from 0.7cm2 to 1.8cm2. Patient was discharged with NYHA class I.
Blood Pressure ; Echocardiography ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Mitral Valve ; Mitral Valve Stenosis* ; Needles ; Punctures ; Spine ; X-Ray Film

Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid is a well differentiated neoplasm and usually has a good prognosis. However, a subset of morphologically distinct papillary carcinoma has bad prognoses. The tall cell variant of papillary carcinoma (TCPC), characterized by tall columnar cells with a height at least twice the width, is the one of these. In order to differentiate TCPC from usual papillary carcinoma (UPC) in terms of prognosis, we performed immunohistochemical studies for the expression of p53, bcl-2 and Leu-M1 proteins in 25 cases of TCPC, 26 cases of UPC and 14 cases of poorly differentiated, solid type papillary carcinoma (SPC) with an analysis of clinical parameters. The nuclear expression of p53 was noted in one case each of UPC and TCPC. The cytoplasmic p53 expression of TCPC, UPC, and SPC was observed in 17/25 cases (68%), 14/26 cases (54%), 3/14 cases (21%), respectively. bcl-2 expression was 19/25 cases (76%), 18/26 cases (69%), 5/14 cases (36%), and that of Leu-M1 was 21/25 cases (84%), 18/26 cases (69%), 4/14 cases(29%), respectively. There were no statistical significance in the expression of those immunoproteins among these three groups (p>0.05). The p53 protein was consistently expressed in the cytoplasm rather than nucleus in this study and was very well correlated to bcl-2 positivity (p<0.01). There were no statistical significance in any clinical parameters examined among these three groups (p>0.05). In conclusion, TCPC can not be separated from UPC as a distinct entity in this study and the cytoplasmic expression of p53 protein provides another mechanism of p53 inactivation in tumorigenesis of the thyroid papillary carcinoma, possibly by bcl-2 related mechanism.
Carcinogenesis ; Carcinoma, Papillary ; Cytoplasm ; Immunoproteins ; Prognosis ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms*

No abstract available.
Pathology, Clinical*