Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Batcup.
We describe two cases of rhabdomyosarcoma with a translocation involving 12q13 as the primary cytogenetic abnormality. Literature review of 35 cases has identified 3 other cases with this abnormality, and we speculate that this may be another nonrandom rearrangement in rhabdomyosarcoma.
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An 18-month-old female presented with an abdominal tumor mass which on morphological, immunohistological and ultrastructural examination was found to be a malignant fibrous histiocytoma. This soft tissue sarcoma is rarely encountered in childhood. Treatment in this case consisted of surgical tumor debulking with pre- and post-operative chemotherapy. The child is well and free of detectable tumor at 23 months after diagnosis.
Seven pregnancies complicated by partial placenta membranacea occurring over a 2-year period are described. The condition is encountered more frequently than the total or near-total form, but is similarly associated with recurrent antepartum haemorrhage, miscarriage or preterm delivery. Diagnosis by ultrasound scan may prove difficult. Five pregnancies had histological evidence of chorioamnionitis, which may have helped to precipitate labour; three fetuses showed pulmonary inflammatory changes of at least 2 days' duration. No maternal predisposing factors could be elicited.
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A case of proliferative fascitis in the forearm of a 7-year-old child is presented. The lesion is composed of spindle cells and large bizarre ganglionlike cells in a collagenous matrix with some myxoid areas. The cells contain intracytoplasmic inclusions of collagen. The cytoplasm stains for vimentin, and the cells have ultrastructural features of myofibroblasts. This is the second case reported of proliferative fasciitis occurring in a child, and the importance of distinguishing this lesion from childhood neoplasms with a similar appearance is discussed.
Immunocytochemical evidence of differentiation in developing human cerebellum is presented in this study. Antibodies to neuron specific enolase, neurofilament protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen and lymphoid markers, DLC and Leu 7 were used. The external granular layer showed positivity with neuronal markers between 27 weeks gestation and 4 months postnatal, but was negative for all other markers including glial fibrillary acidic protein. Characteristic staining reactions were noted in the other cerebellar layers. Monoclonal antibodies, UJ13A (pan-neuroectodermal marker) and G10 (localising microtubule-associated protein MAP1x) were also used in a limited number of cryostat sections and were positive and negative, respectively, in the external granular layer. The results of this study are discussed in relation to the theory that the external granular layer may be one source of medulloblastomas.
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In 1986, 28 consultant pathologists with a special paediatric or perinatal interest in the UK and Irish Republic supplied information on current disposal methods for fetuses lost in the second trimester (12-28 weeks gestation) and the facilities available to parents. In over half the hospitals surveyed no single method of disposal was employed, but most of the fetuses were incinerated. In six hospitals all fetuses were either buried or cremated; 25 hospitals had facilities for photography and 24 made special religious services available. Other facilities available in some centres included the provision of blessing cards and a 'remembrance book' and the appointment of a bereavement counsellor. In five of the local crematoria or cemeteries a special plot of land was reserved for stillbirths and younger fetuses. The relative costs of these facilities are discussed.
The prenatal diagnosis of 4q deletion was made as a result of amniocentesis for high serum alphafetoprotein.
A 27-year-old patient contracted a Coxsackie virus A9 meningitis at 33 weeks gestational age. Two weeks later a macerated female stillborn infant was delivered. The placenta showed a diffuse perivillous fibrin deposition with villous necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration and yielded Coxsackie virus A9 on culture. Post-mortem examination of the fetus showed only minimal inflammatory changes in the cardiac connective tissue and the subarachnoid space.
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Thirteen infants with haematemesis associated with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis were investigated in order to elucidate the source of bleeding. All 13 patients showed endoscopic evidence of oesophagitis, moderate in 4 and severe in 9. No significant gastric mucosal lesion was found. It was concluded that the site of the haemorrhage was the oesophageal mucosa in all 13 infants. Eleven of the patients experienced troublesome postoperative vomiting.
Gastric biopsies from 35 infants with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis have been assessed for histological features of gastritis. No erosions were found, and there was no excess cellular infiltration of the lamina propria compared with a control group. Fresh haemorrhage into the lamina propria was frequent in both pyloric stenosis and control sections.