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Biomedical subjects

A W Van Nostrand

Publications and source records attributed to A W Van Nostrand.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Hyoid bone involvement by squamous cell carcinoma: clinical and pathological features.

The incidence of hyoid bone involvement by neoplasia is undetermined, despite its importance in hyoid-preserving surgery. Eleven (1.46%) of 755 whole-organ laryngeal specimens examined demonstrated hyoid bone infiltration. These included 6 cases originating from the larynx, 3 from the vallecula, and 1 case each from the pyriform fossa and tongue base. Clinically, vallecular involvement was helpful in determining hyoid invasion; however, computed tomography (CT) was disappointing. The greater cornu was the sole site of invasion in six cases. Ten of 11 cases were secondary to direct tumor spread. All carcinomas were advanced, with variable differentiation. Vascular and neural invasion was a prominent feature. Hyoid bone invasion is rare, and associated with a poor prognosis. Hyoid bone preservation is feasible in a majority of patients.

Aged↗

Primary thyroid thymoma: a distinct clinicopathologic entity.

A 51-year-old man presented with a paratracheal tumor. He had undergone resection of a thyroid tumor 15 years previously; at that time, the histologic diagnosis had been anaplastic carcinoma. When the tumor recurred, the presumptive clinical diagnosis was medullary thyroid carcinoma. Histologic examination revealed a poorly differentiated epithelial tumor with immunoreactivity for keratins, carcinoembryonic antigen, and, focally, S-100 protein. The tumor was negative for calcitonin and thyroglobulin. There were scattered lymphocytes and plasma cells. Ultrastructural examination showed elongated epithelial cells with prominent desmosomes and bundles of cytoplasmic tonofilaments but no secretory granules; amyloid was not present ultrastructurally or histochemically. The characteristic ultrastructural and immunocytochemical features and the clinical behavior of this tumor verify the existence of primary thyroid thymoma. This new primary thyroid neoplasm is of clinical importance, considering the more benign behavior of primary thyroid thymoma than of other tumors in the differential diagnosis of this lesion.

Adult↗

Q-fever. The liver and bone marrow pathology.

Eighteen liver and seven bone marrow biopsies from 44 patients with clinically and serologically proven Q-fever seen during a recent outbreak were studied. Highly distinctive fibrin-ring granulomas were found in seven liver and four bone marrow specimens. Lipid or nonspecific granulomas often containing neutrophils and variable numbers of giant cells were noted in 13 livers and seven bone marrows. A wide variety of nongranulomatous histological changes, frequently including steatosis and nonspecific "reactive" hepatitis, were seen in the liver biopsies. Identifiable rickettsiae were not present in tissue sections studied by microbiologic stains or electron microscopy. The histological response pattern to Coxiella infection is varied, and Q-fever should always enter the differential diagnosis of a granulomatous disease encountered in liver and bone marrow specimens.

Animals↗

Salivary gland monomorphic adenoma. Ultrastructural, immunoperoxidase, and histogenetic aspects.

Monomorphic adenoma of basal cell type is a salivary gland tumor believed to result from a proliferation of a single type of cell. However, ultrastructural and immunocytochemical investigations of 6 monomorphic adenomas (5 from parotid and 1 from intraoral minor salivary gland) indicate that there are two classes of these lesions, one composed of two types of tumor cells and the other wholly or predominantly made up of one type of cell (isomorphic). In the former group, the organization of the tumor cells closely mimicked that of normal and hyperplastic salivary gland intercalated ducts. Aggregates of tumor cells were arranged as an inner layer of luminal epithelial cells which were surrounded by an outer layer of cells that, in some cases, had ultrastructural and immunohistochemical features indicating myoepithelial cell differentiation. In some adenomas formed by two types of tumor cells, basal-lamina-lined extracellular spaces were identified ultrastructurally in relation to modified myoepithelial cells; such spaces had the same fine-structural features as those reported in pleomorphic adenoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma. Predominantly isomorphic adenomas were composed exclusively of luminal epithelial cells. These results indicate that despite the varied histologic patterns in the numerous subtypes of monomorphic adenoma, there is a central theme of differentiation and organization in this type of neoplasm which recapitulates the ductoacinar unit of normal salivary gland parenchyma.

Adenoma↗

Pleomorphic adenoma, II: Ultrastructural organization of "stromal" regions.

Findings from an ultrastructural study of 24 major and minor salivary gland pleomorphic adenomas suggest that the principal cell type in the myxoid and chondromyxoid regions of these tumors is a structurally modified myoepithelial cell. This interpretation is based on findings in the transitional zone between myxoid regions and compact cellular areas that have a ductal-acinar organization, that is, are composed of luminal epithelial and modified myoepithelial cells. Survey-type low-power electron micrographs allowed appreciation of the original orientation of the major proliferating component of these tumors to the perimeter of ductal-acinar units. The low-power electron micrographs also revealed residual features of this organization, the early development and subsequent sequential alteration of matrix compartments as tumor cells became increasingly separated by extracellular products, and a variety of myoepithelial cell modifications, such as squamous and chondroid metaplasia, resulting from neoplastic induction. According to the authors' interpretation, modified myoepithelial cells in myxoid and chondromyxoid regions form a continuum with similar tumor cells in transitional and solid areas, forming what can be visualized as markedly expanded and merging ductal-acinar units that tend to converge with similarly altered adjacent neoplastic ductal-acinar units. Thus, a multiplicity of processes are involved in the formation of the complex and varied histologic patterns that characterize pleomorphic adenomas.

Adenoma, Pleomorphic↗

Comparison of formalin- and acetone-fixation for immunohistochemical detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and keratin.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the relative merits of cold acetone and buffered formalin as fixatives for the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen and keratin in permanently embedded tissues using a peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) immunohistochemical procedure. The effect of treatment with the proteolytic enzyme pronase also was examined in the formalin-fixed tissues. Cold acetone was found to be superior to formalin for the preservation of CEA and keratin antigenic activities in a variety of benign and malignant tissues. Pronase treatment markedly increased the staining intensities of both antigens in formalin-fixed tissues. For many tissues, however, superior results were obtained using the cold acetone method, and this technic is recommended for the optimum retention of antigenic activity in permanently embedded tissues.

Acetone↗

Lesions simulating glomus tumors of the middle ear.

Several non-glomus middle ear masses may mimic glomus tumors. Clinical features alone may not be sufficient to differentiate these lesions. Radiography, particularly angiography is valuable in establishing the diagnosis in most cases. In some, however, diagnosis can only be made on tympanotomy. Four case reports are included in which the diagnosis turned out to be hemangioma, meningioma, high jugular bulb, and cholesterol granuloma. Careful assessment of the clinical, radiological, and operative findings is essential in order to avoid serious complications.

Cholesterol Esters↗

The effects of preoperative irradiation on primary tracheal anastomosis.

Preoperative radiotherapy was used in the management of selected patients with cancer of the lung or trachea who might subsequently require segmental resection of bronchus or trachea and reconstruction by primary anastomosis. This study was designed to determine the effects of varying dosages of preoperative irradiation on anastomotic healing. Two rings were resected from the cervical trachea of 20 dogs following irradiation with varying doses of cesium. There were no important adverse effects on healing of the trachea or adjacent organs in dogs receiving up to 3,500 rads. All dogs receiving a higher dose than this developed some anastomotic stenosis, which was severe in 6 of 8 animals. Similar adverse effects were observed in 2 patients managed by preoperative radiotherapy (4,000 rads in three weeks) and tracheal resection with primary anastomosis.

Animals↗

Primary tracheal anastomosis after resection of the cricoid cartilage with preservation of recurrent laryngeal nerves.

Resections at the cricoid level pose the problems of damage to the recurrent laryngeal nerve and loss of circumferential cartilaginous support. Strictures within the cricoid ring have usually been managed with keels or stents, whereas neoplasms have been managed by laryngectomy. This paper reports on 6 patients with lesions involving the cricoid who were successfully treated by segmental tracheal resection and removal of all but a thin shell of posterior cricoid plate. The distal trachea was anastomosed at the subglottic level within 1 cm. or less of the vocal cords. Two patients had traumatic transection at the cricotracheal level with disruption of cricoid cartilage and avulsion of both recurrent nerves. Of the other 4 patients with tracheal lesions involving the cricoid, 2 had postintubation strictures, another had chemical burns, and the fourth had adenoid cystic carcinoma. Primary healing and good clinical results were obtained in all 6 patients. In the 4 patients with intact recurrent nerves, nerve function was preserved. This technique provides a method for resection and reconstruction in one stage for selected lesions at the cricoid level.

Adolescent↗