Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare, distinctive cutaneous tumor, which consists of spindle shaped ceils arranged in densely packed interlacing bundles with the storiform or cartwheel pattern. Histologically, it resembles deep growing dermatofibroma, nodular fasciitis, neurofibroma and neural sheath tumors. DFSP is one of t.he connective tissue tumors which is difficult. to diagnose histologically as well as clinically. Recently, the immunochemical staining with a monoclonal antibody to CD34 is reported to give assistance in the clear differential diagnosis of DFSP from other fibrous or neural tumors. Herein, three cases of DFSP were stained by immunohistochemical staining with S-100 protein, vimentin, factor VIII and anti-CD34 antibody in order to assess the use of anti-CD34 in the differential diagnosis of DFSP.
Connective Tissue ; Dermatofibrosarcoma* ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Factor VIII ; Fasciitis ; Histiocytoma, Benign Fibrous ; Neurofibroma ; S100 Proteins ; Vimentin

We report two cases of ectopic kidney with the review of literatures.
Kidney*

The rib cartilage has been the most popular autogenous tissue for microtia reconstruction. Donor site complications, especially chest wall deformities occurring after harvest of costal cartilage graft are presented and discussed in many reports. In this study, 100 chest donor sites were evaluated in 34 patients (25 male and 9 female) who underwent costal cartilage grafts for microtia reconstruction from 1992 to 1999, and reviewed for donor site complications by radiography and physical examination. Ribs from which costal cartilage had been harvested showed increased inward bowing on radiographs in 38 of 100 donor sites; the upper ribs record a higher incidence of deformity than lower ribs. The frequency of rib deformity in donor site was 21 percent when cartilages were harvested from patients older than 10 years of age, whereas it was 73.3 percent in patients younger than 10 years. This difference was statistically significant. In our study, the incidence of chest wall deformity was 57 percent, concerning donor site morbidity after the supraperichondrial rib harvesting procedure, whereas it was 35 percent in patients after the subperichondrial rib harvesting procedure. In conclusion, surgeons should consider the possibility of thoracic deformity when planning costal cartilage grafting. To avoid these deformities, costal cartilage harvesting should be made at lower levels of the rib cage, and delayed operation time for thoracic maturation is recommended. More care should be taken to preserve the perichondrium and the germinative zone of the costochondrial junction.
Cartilage* ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Physical Examination ; Radiography ; Ribs ; Thoracic Wall* ; Thorax* ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants

Although very rare, the incidence of tricuspid valve regurgitation after blunt chest trauma has risen in line with the increasing rate of car accidents and steering wheel trauma. It is easy to miss the diagnosis of tricuspid valve regurgitation following blunt chest trauma because most patients feel no symptoms at trauma, and the condition is sometimes overlooked for a long period of time due to its mild symptoms. A 49-year-old man suffered dyspnea on exertion for 1 month due to right heart failure 8 years after accidentally falling from a third floor. Preoperative echocardiography revealed severe tricuspid valve regurgitation resulting from prolapse of the anterior leaflet with annular dilatation. The patient underwent tricuspid valvuloplasty with a 36-mm Carpentier tricuspid ring. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography showed mild tricuspid valve regurgitation. We report a case of successful native valve salvage of ruptured tricuspid valve after blunt chest trauma, and present a review of the relevant literature.
Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Incidence ; Middle Aged ; Prolapse ; Thorax* ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Tricuspid Valve* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

Although very rare, the incidence of tricuspid valve regurgitation after blunt chest trauma has risen in line with the increasing rate of car accidents and steering wheel trauma. It is easy to miss the diagnosis of tricuspid valve regurgitation following blunt chest trauma because most patients feel no symptoms at trauma, and the condition is sometimes overlooked for a long period of time due to its mild symptoms. A 49-year-old man suffered dyspnea on exertion for 1 month due to right heart failure 8 years after accidentally falling from a third floor. Preoperative echocardiography revealed severe tricuspid valve regurgitation resulting from prolapse of the anterior leaflet with annular dilatation. The patient underwent tricuspid valvuloplasty with a 36-mm Carpentier tricuspid ring. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography showed mild tricuspid valve regurgitation. We report a case of successful native valve salvage of ruptured tricuspid valve after blunt chest trauma, and present a review of the relevant literature.
Diagnosis ; Dilatation ; Dyspnea ; Echocardiography ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Heart Failure ; Humans ; Incidence ; Middle Aged ; Prolapse ; Thorax* ; Tricuspid Valve Insufficiency ; Tricuspid Valve* ; Wounds, Nonpenetrating

Nail-patella syndrome is a relatively rare autosomal dominant disorder characterized by dysplastic nail, hypoplastic or absent patella, and dislocation of radial head and iliac horns. In addition, renal abnormalities have been reported. The usual clinical signs of the renal involvement are asymptomatic proteinuria, microscopic hematuria, and in some cases progression to end stage renal disease. We present the case of adult with nail-patella syndrome, who developed proteinuria. Electron microscopy revealed irregular thickening of the glomerular basement membrane with areas of rarefaction, giving rise to a pathognomonic "moth-eaten" appearance.
Adult ; Animals ; Dislocations ; Glomerular Basement Membrane ; Head ; Hematuria ; Horns ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Microscopy, Electron ; Nail-Patella Syndrome* ; Patella ; Proteinuria

No abstract available.
Erythropoietin* ; Humans* ; Renal Dialysis*

Eotaxin is an important inflammatory chemokine in eosinophil chemotaxis and activation and, thus, is implicated in asthma. Recently, obesity was associated with an increased prevalence of asthma, but the relationship between obesity and eotaxin expression has only been partially understood in obese mice and human studies. Therefore, we studied the expression patterns of eotaxin in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes/adipocytes to determine whether eotaxin levels are influenced by body weight gain and/or reduction in diet-induced obese mice. First, we investigated eotaxin expression during differentiation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Then, we treated 3T3-L1 preadipocytes/adipocytes with tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), eotaxin, interleukin (IL)-4, IL-5, or leptin. To examine the effects of weight loss in high-fat diet induced obese mice, we fed C57BL/6 mice a high-fat diet or a normal diet for 26 weeks. Then, half of the high-fat diet group were fed a normal diet until 30 weeks to reduce weight. Epididymal adipose tissue, visceral adipose tissue, serum, and bronchoalveolar fluid of mice were examined for eotaxin expression. The results showed that eotaxin expression levels increased with adipocyte differentiation and that more eotaxin was expressed when the cells were stimulated with TNF-alpha, eotaxin, IL-4, IL-5, or leptin. An in vivo study showed that eotaxin levels were reduced in visceral adipose tissues when high-fat diet fed mice underwent weight loss. Taken together, these results indicate a close relationship between eotaxin expression and obesity as well as weight loss, thus, they indirectly show a relation to asthma.
Adipocytes ; Adipose Tissue ; Animals ; Asthma ; Body Weight ; Chemotaxis ; Diet ; Diet, High-Fat ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Interleukin-4 ; Interleukin-5 ; Interleukins ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Leptin ; Mice ; Mice, Obese ; Obesity ; Prevalence ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Weight Loss

No abstract available.

Subungal malignant melanoma is a relatively rare disease with reported incidence between 1% to 3% of all melanoma cases in the USA, 10% to 31% in Japan. It is a serious disease with a survival period of 5 years. This poor prognosis is the result of late diagnosis in many of the cases, usually the patient not presenting himself early enough in the course of the disease. However, far more important is the frequent failure of the physician or surgeon to recognize the clinical signs and to perform a biopsy from the correct site, which leads to an accurate diagnosis. Therefore we focused the nail color change of the subungal malignant melanoma to diagnose the disease at the early stage. Five patients who visited our hospital with nail color change into black took the biopsy. This should be done on nail bed and matrix lesions which shows color change into black. A wedge form is taken from the area with maximal clinical concern, including normal tissue at the edge of the lesion. In cases of melanoma in situ (4 cases) diagnosed during the previous biopsy, surgical treatment was done as soon as possible. The melanoma was excised by Mohs technique and the margins were checked by frozen section. If the margins and base of tumor did not have micrometastasis, immediate reconstruction using various flaps was done. In case that micrometastasis was suspicious however, special staining using HMB45 immunostaining was done for confirmation. After a few days for special staining, delayed reconstruction was done. By means of the early diagnosis and Mohs micrographic operation technique, we could excise the tumor completely and preserve the tendon, bone, joint and length of digits.
Biopsy ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diagnosis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Frozen Sections ; Humans ; Incidence ; Japan ; Joints ; Melanoma* ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; Prognosis ; Rare Diseases ; Tendons