Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Pezzica.
The case is described of a 63-year-old female with a multilocular liver cyst diagnosed as cystadenoma after imaging and fine needle aspiration. The lesion, however, proved to be an invasive cystadenocarcinoma at surgery. Cystadenoma cannot be differentiated, preoperatively, from cystadenocarcinoma and should always be considered for surgical resection.
The authors evaluate the incidence of carcinoid tumours out of a total of 2478 appendectomies performed between January 1984 and December 1991 at Treviglio Hospital. Histological tests, routinely performed on all appendixes removed, have revealed an incidence of 0.56% of this disease. Lesions are clinically silent in all cases. In fact, the finding of a carcinoid tumour was coincidental in 12 patients undergoing appendectomy for symptoms of appendicitis, and in two cases in which appendectomy was initially performed during the course of hysterectomy. Eleven cases were histologically of the classical type, including one with a "balloon cell" variant. Lastly, three cases were tubular type adenocarcinoids. In all cases treatment took the form of simple appendectomy. Follow-up studies are still in progress which have enabled the recidivation of neoplasia to be excluded in all patients, even 11 years after treatment.
We report 2 cases of ovarian metastases of malignant melanoma arisen 4 and 6 years after the removal of the primitive epithelial neoplasia. In both cases the ovarian neoplasia was unilateral. Both the macroscopic and the histological aspects of the malignant melanoma were examined. From both cases it was clear that it was a solid neoplasia with histological aspect of wide epithelioid cells with abundant cytoplasm and intracytoplasmatic melanotic pigment. The immunohistochemical results supported positivity for protein S100, vimentine and HMB45, negativity for cytokeratine.
One ovarian mucinous cystic tumor that contained a mural solid nodule of anaplastic carcinoma is described in a 35-year-old woman. The epithelial elements consisted of invasive well differentiated mucinous carcinoma. The anaplastic nodule showed some similarities with the cells described in sarcoma and sarcoma-like mural nodules. In favor of a diagnosis of anaplastic carcinoma there are poor circumscription of the nodules, vascular invasion and absence of a prominent inflammatory reaction.
Aorto-esophageal fistula is a very rare disease and few cases are reported. The most frequent ethiological factors are foreign body ingestion primary disease of esophagus or aorta and iatrogenic damages in particular endoscopical investigations. In this report a new case is described and a pathogenic explanation for the development of the disease is proposed.
The frequency and meaning of epithelial alterations adjacent to a vulvar invasive carcinoma are examined. In the period from 1986 to 1989, 37 cases of vulvar invasive carcinoma were observed in the Bergamo Hospital (Anatomopathology Institute of Bergamo) in women aged between 54-95 years operated for vulvectomy. The vulvar epithelium adjacent to the invasive carcinoma was studied in order to determine the frequency and the type of associated lesions. Two lesions seem to be meaningfully correlated to the vulvar carcinoma: the lichen sclerosus in 59% of cases and the VIN3 of differentiated type in 35%. The identification of these epithelial lesions can serve to select the cases with increased risk to develop invasive carcinoma.
Seven cases of blue nevus of the endocervix were examined macroscopically and histologically. The endocervical blue nevus is a rare lesion which can be incidentally found in surgical pieces after hysterectomy in middle-aged women. It looks like a blue-blackish little lesion, located superficially in the submucosa of the endocervix. The immunohistochemical results are positive for Protein S100 of the nevus cells. Due of its localization in the cervical duct the lesion can be hardly identified through colposcopy. Histogenetical hypotheses are finally discussed.
We report five cases of combined Clark's nevi. Like all melanocytic nevi, Clark's nevus can combine with other nevi to produce lesions that are hard to interpret clinically and histologically. The morphology of combined Clark's nevus can resemble that of a melanoma associated with a nevus.
We describe three cases of primary mediastinal seminoma, a rare neoplasm histologically similar to the testicular form, which mainly affects men between 30-60 yrs of age. Case No. 1--a 45 year old patient was treated with a combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Twenty six months after the diagnosis, the patient shows a limited residual lesion, a good general health status and was asymptomatic. Case No. 2--a 56 year old patient was admitted for suspected epithelial lung cancer, with subsequent histological diagnosis of seminoma on surgical sample. The exeresis of the lesion was followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the latter interrupted owing to the onset of thrombotic complications resulting in the patient's death. Case No. 3--a 35 year old patient was subjected to diagnostic and therapeutic thoracotomy, with diagnosis of primary mediastinal seminoma. The surgical therapy was followed by a cycle of radiotherapy. Five years later, the general health of the patient is good and he is still asymptomatic. In the discussion we consider the embryogenesis, clinical picture, radiological and anatomicopathological aspects, typical biomarkers of cancer, diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols currently followed.
This concerns a 57 year old woman operated on in 1988 for a left radical mastectomy due to ductal breast carcinoma and subsequently treated with chemotherapy and Tamoxifen adjuvant. In 1990 a laparo-hystero-oophorectomy was carried out due to uterine fibromas. The woman continued taking Tamoxifen. Two years later a pelvic regeneration appeared, resulting in endometriosis, site of adenomatose hyperplasia and of endometrioid carcinoma GI. This furthermore confirms the importance of a gynecological follow-up for all women treated with Tamoxifen adjuvant therapy.
Three adenomatoid tumors of the uterus were examined. These tumors arising in the uterus are often regarded as incidental findings at operation, and are sometimes not well recognized at the time of diagnosis. They are small nodular lesions in the wall of the myometrium. Microscopically they presented with four distinctive histologic types, and immunohistochemically gave positive staining for keratin and for the mesothelial marker. The immunohistochemical results support the theories of histogenesis of the adenomatoid tumor as a type of benign mesothelioma.
BACKGROUND: Ovarian carcinomas may produce human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) or HCG-like substances and may even contain syncytiotrophoblast cells, but a true choriocarcinomatous component has not been described in these tumors. METHODS: Two cases of poorly differentiated ovarian carcinoma with choriocarcinomatous components are reported. Pathologic findings were correlated with immunohistochemical stains, hormonal effects, and clinical behavior. RESULTS: Each tumor contained a circumscribed, extensively necrotic and hemorrhagic brown nodule. Microscopically, the nodules exhibited a mixture of cytotrophoblast and syncytiotrophoblast. The syncytiotrophoblast capped cytotrophoblast and was strongly positive for beta-HCG. In one of the cases, a transformation zone composed of poorly differentiated carcinoma with occasional beta-HCG-positive cells was observed between a mucinous cystadenoma and the choriocarcinomatous elements. The two cases exhibited activation of the ovarian stroma in the form of condensation and luteinization. Extra-abdominal metastases developed early in both patients and, despite multiagent chemotherapy, they died shortly postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Choriocarcinoma may rarely develop as a result of dedifferentiation of common epithelial ovarian tumors. Recognition of choriocarcinomatous components in ovarian carcinomas is important because of its association with aggressive behavior.
One case of giant-cell arteritis involving the female genital tract of a post-menopausal woman is reported. The patient was a 75 year-old female, who presented anemia, fatigue, weight loss and a palpable abdominal mass. A hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy proved multiple uterine leiomyomas. The uterus, ovaries and tubes unexpectedly revealed extensive giant-cell arteritis of small and medium sized vessels. Giant-cell arteritis of the female genital tract is a rare finding that may occur as an isolated form or as part of generalized giant cell arteritis.
One case of large solitary luteinized follicle cyst of puerperium is reported. The patient presented with a palpable adnexal mass at four weeks post-partum. The ovarian cyst was solitary and unilocular and had a diameter of 14 cm. On microscopical examination the lining of the cyst consisted of luteinized cells that exhibited focal nuclear atypicality.
Thirty-four patients, with a history of persistent abnormal uterine bleeding and dilatation and curettage or suction curettage performed within the previous year, were evaluated by office hysteroscopy and biopsy. For 16 patients (47%) the hysteroscopic diagnosis was in agreement with the curettage. Hysteroscopy revealed more information in 18 patients (53%): 8 had polyps, 6 had submucous or pedunculated myoma, 2 had endometrial neoplasia, 1 had myoma and polyp, 2 had endometrial neoplasia and 1 had synechia. Moreover in 3 patients with diagnosis of suspected myoma by curettage, hysteroscopy revealed a normal cavity. The high incidence of missed diagnosis of pathologic conditions by "blind" curettage supports the opinion that diagnostic hysteroscopy is the method of choice in the evaluation of abnormal uterine bleeding.
The use of outpatient diagnostic hysteroscopy is discussed with reference to a series of 425 women. The test was performed in an outpatient setting with no form of analgesia, anesthesia or premedication in 385 patients (90.6%); the degree of acceptability was very low (intolerable) in 5.5%, supportable in 15.8% and excellent in 78.7% of patients. Fourty-two per cent of patients were aged between 45 and 54 years old, and the mean age was 47.5 years with a range between 18 and 83 years. The indication for the test was pre- or postmenopausal anomalous uterine bleeding in 74% of patients. Hysteroscopic diagnosis was normal in 56% of cases; endometrial polyps were diagnosed in 11.4% of patients; myomas in 11%; low-risk hyperplasia in 9.9% and malignant tumours in 3.6%. The correlation between hysteroscopic diagnosis and histological tests was above 95% in cases of malignant tumours, atrophy and functional endometrium, whereas it was 67% in cases of low-risk hyperplasia. No accidents or complications related to hysteroscopy were reported.
Colposcopy and biopsy were performed in 97 patients whose referral smears showed mild dysplasia (CIN 1). Of 97 women, 40 (41.2%) had a biopsy or a colposcopic examination alone considered normal, 36 (37.1%) had CIN 1 or HPV changes, 12 (12.4%) had CIN 2 and 9 (9.3%) had CIN 3. No invasive cancer was detected. This data suggest that, if colposcopy resources are available, repeat smear alone is inadequate to follow women who have a mild dysplasia smear.
One case of large epidermoid cyst of the ovary is presented. This rare lesion was uniformly described previously in literature as incidental finding in the study of hysterectomy specimens.