Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J F Wazir.
Although giant cell arteritis (GCA) of the extracranial arteries is said to be relatively frequent, clinical manifestations are rarely recognized. We describe a case presenting with intestinal perforation who subsequently died with active GCA of the coronary, mesenteric and temporal vessels.
The sensitivity and specificity of different staining procedures for the detection of Pneumocystis carinii organisms were compared. Three conventional stains (Papanicolaou, Giemsa and Grocott's) and one immunocytochemical stain using 3F6 antibody were used on smears prepared from the same specimen. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and induced sputum (IS) specimens were used for this purpose. One hundred and sixty-five episodes from 142 patients were investigated by the four different staining techniques. Cysts of P. carinii were detected in 64 episodes from 63 patients. Immunocytochemical staining with 3F6 was found to be slightly more sensitive at detecting the cysts than Grocott's, Giemsa, or Papanicolaou stain.
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is a common cause of death in patients with AIDS. Diagnosis is based on cytological examination of smears prepared from induced sputum samples and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens which have been stained with methenamine silver. We have examined 46 BAL/induced sputum specimens from patients who had clinical symptoms and signs suggestive of P. carinii pneumonia and measured the diameter of a minimum 100 cysts in each specimen. We found that cyst size correlated with response to treatment with co-trimoxazole. This observation has implications for the therapeutic management of patients with this infection.
AIM: To prepare a monoclonal antibody (EB9) against the trophozoite form of Pneumocystis carinii and to test its efficacy for detecting infection with this organism. METHOD: The sensitivity and specificity of the EB9 antibody were assessed by comparing it with other conventional stains (Papanicolaou, Giemsa and Grocott) and 3F6 antibody in 33 bronchoalveolar lavage specimens from HIV positive patients suspected of having P carinii pneumonia. RESULTS: P carinii infection was detected in 15 of 33 patients. In 14 cases the organism was detected by two or more of the staining methods used; however, EB9 failed to detect infection in two cases which were positive by other staining techniques. In one case P carinii infection was detected by EB9 only. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that P carinii infection in the lung may occur in two forms: the cyst form and the trophozoite form, which may explain the observed variation in response to treatment.
Immunocytochemical stains in a routine cytopathology laboratory can be used to distinguish between benign and malignant cells, and to identify tumour type. In our laboratory 30 problematic cases were selected for immunocytochemical stains and the results analysed in this paper. The following markers were used: cytokeratin (CAM5.2), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), kappa and lambda light chains, leucocytic common antigen (LCA), chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), prostate specific antigen (PSA), L26, UCHL1, S100-protein and vimentin. Twelve FNA (four lymph nodes, one parotid swelling, two from lungs, two from pleura and chest wall, one from lumbar region, two from soft tissue masses), and 18 effusions (12 pleural effusions, five ascitic fluids, one pericardial effusion) were investigated. We found immunocytochemical stains of value in formulating the cytological diagnosis in 11/12 of FNA and 15/18 of effusions.