The office of decedent affairs.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to J R Carter.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The DNA content and proliferative indexes of seven cases of tenosynovial giant cell tumor of tendon sheath, diffuse type (TGCT-D); 11 cases of tenosynovial giant cell tumor of tendon sheath, localized type (TGCT-L); and seven cases of pigmented villonodular synovitis (PVNS) were analyzed by flow cytometry in an attempt to assess objectively their biologic differences. Three cases of TGCT-D manifested an aneuploid DNA content and four had a diploid DNA pattern. All cases of TGCT-L and PVNS showed a diploid DNA content. The proliferative indexes for TGCT-D were significantly higher than those found in the other two groups. There was no histopathologic feature that correlated with the aneuploid DNA pattern found in two of the three cases of TGCT-D. Only one of the three aneuploid DNA content TGCT-D cases displayed marked cellular pleomorphism with dense fibrous stroma; in that case there was recurrence 4 years after initial excision. Our data further support that TGCT-D, TGCT-L, and PVNS are histopathologically similar but clinically distinct lesions. The high proliferative indexes of TGCT-D may reflect a rapid, uncontrolled growth that may explain its aggressive biologic behavior. The presence of an aneuploid DNA pattern in some cases of TGCT-D in this study, coupled with the reported chromosomal abnormalities and occurrence of malignant transformation in these lesions, clearly supports their neoplastic nature.
Recombination between F42lac and lambda plac5 is typically 20- to 50-fold more efficient than recombination between chromosomal lac and lambda plac5. This enhancement of recombination is recBCD-dependent and requires the expression of genes from the tra regulon of the F factor. Also required is oriT, the origin of F factor conjugational transfer, which must be located in-cis to the cellular copy of lac. In this study we show that enhanced recombination is not supported by an oriT point mutant that reduces oriT function in conjugation. We also present evidence that the activation of oriT for recombination enhancement involves the same strand-specific nick that is required for conjugal DNA transfer. Although it is thought that the role of oriT in recombination enhancement is related to the facilitated entry of RecBCD enzyme into the DNA duplex, we were unable to detect any double-strand breakage at oriT.
Using an oligonucleotide hybridization probe, we have mapped the structural gene for the delta subunit of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme to 14.6 centisomes of the chromosome. This gene, designated holA, was cloned and sequenced. The sequence of holA matches precisely four amino acid sequences obtained for the amino terminus of delta and three internal tryptic peptides. A holA-overproducing plasmid that directs the expression of delta up to 4% of the soluble protein was constructed. Sequence analysis of holA revealed a 1,029-bp open reading frame that encodes a protein with a predicted molecular mass of 38,703 Da. holA may reside downstream of rlpB in an operon, perhaps representing yet another link between structural genes for the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme and proteins involved in membrane biogenesis. These and other features are discussed in terms of genetic regulation of delta-subunit synthesis.
Recombination between F42lac and lambda plac5 is typically 20- to 50-fold more efficient than recombination between chromosomal lac and lambda plac5. This enhancement of recombination requires trans-acting factors located in the promoter-distal and promoter-proximal regions of the main traY-to-traI (traZ) operon. By testing the ability of deletion mutants of tra to support enhanced recombination, we have identified traY as the only product has been ruled out. We also report that traI is the only gene from the promoter-distal end of the traY to traI operon that is required for recombination enhancement. Of the two proposed domains of traI, we conclude that the oriT-nicking activity is essential, whereas the helicase activity is largely dispensable. The possibility of a third traI activity is also discussed.
Three generations of a nonconsanguineous family with premature onset of primary (idiopathic) osteoarthritis (OA) were studied for clues to the etiopathogenesis of their disorder. Articular symptoms began in their second and third decades of life and involved multiple joints, both typical and atypical for primary OA. Radiographs of the majority of involved peripheral joints showed abnormalities typical of primary OA. Evidence of chondrodysplasia was found in the spines. Pathologic examination of femoral heads obtained at total hip arthroplasty from 3 affected family members showed moderate to severe OA. Articular cartilage proteoglycans from these specimens were evaluated for aggregatability with hyaluronic acid, levels of chondroitin sulfate and keratan sulfate, and core protein structure. The results from each patient's specimen differed from the results of the other specimens. We conclude that this family's disorder, primary OA associated with a mild chondrodysplasia, was a late-onset overlap form of an epiphyseal dysplasia, that a defect common to hyaline articular and physeal cartilage was primary, and that a single structural proteoglycan abnormality was not likely to be the underlying cause.
Three cases of genital tract tuberculosis (GTB) are described. This disease is uncommon in developed countries. Patients may present with infertility, non-specific menstrual disturbance, pain or abdominal distention. The genital tract is usually infected by hematogenous spread from a distant focus, with the fallopian tubes most commonly involved. Diagnosis is often made retrospectively, and once confirmed medical management is the mainstay of treatment. Future fertility is doubtful in these patients.
Between 1948 and 1984, autopsies were performed on 305 patients with primary carcinomas of the cervix, endometrium, ovaries, fallopian tubes, vulva, and vagina. Skeletal metastases were detected premortem and at autopsy in 49 cases (16.1%): cervix, 20 (40.8%); endometrium, 17 (34.7%); ovary, 7 (14.3%); vulva, 4 (8.2%); fallopian tube, 1 (2%). There were no cases of osseous metastasis from vaginal carcinoma. The incidence and sites of metastasis from these gynecologic carcinomas were correlated with their clinical and histopathologic classifications. This clinicopathologic study, based on autopsy data, demonstrates that osseous metastases are not uncommon, are significantly greater than clinically appreciated, and correlate with advanced anatomic stage and histopathologic type and grade.
We report the clinicopathologic findings in two cases of chondrosarcoma of the small bones of the hand arising from a preexisting solitary enchondroma. A critical review of the previously reported 18 cases shows that only one is actually well-documented.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Primary osseous neoplasms of the thoracic and lumbar spine are uncommon lesions. Between 1965 and 1982, of 1971 patients with musculoskeletal neoplasms, only 29 (1.5%) had primary osseous tumors in these locations. There were eight children and 21 adults. Back pain was the most common complaint in 25 patients (86%), and neurologic symptoms or deficits were present in 16 patients (55%). All lesions were visible on routine spine roentgenograms, while computed tomography and myelography demonstrated spinal canal encroachment and extradural spinal cord compression in 19 patients (66%). The histologic diagnoses included 11 benign and 18 malignant lesions. Benign lesions occurred predominantly in children and malignant tumors in adults. Treatment was individualized, based on the histologic diagnoses. Twenty-two patients had surgical resection of their lesions. Laminectomy without stabilization and arthrodesis resulted in late instability and neurologic deterioration in three of seven patients (43%) with malignant lesions. Resection and decompression combined with arthrodesis did not predispose to late instability. Twenty-one patients were followed for a mean of 4.1 years (range, two to 14 years). Eight patients died from malignant disease between one month and seven years after diagnosis.
Idiopathic tibia vara or Blount's disease can be classified into three age-onset groups: (1) infantile, less than three years; (2) juvenile, four to ten years; and (3) adolescent, 11 years or older. The latter two groups comprise late-onset tibia vara, which is much less common than the infantile-onset form. In a comparison of eight juvenile-onset patients (13 knees) and seven adolescent-onset patients (nine knees), there were essentially no significant clinical, roentgenographic, or physeal-histopathologic differences. Both groups had severe obesity, mild to moderate varus deformities, and less-pronounced roentgenographic characteristics. Histopathologic analyses of the entire physis from the proximal tibia in five cases (seven knees) were essentially identical in patients with the infantile form as well as in those with slipped-capital femoral epiphyses, suggesting a common etiology. Recurrence of deformity after surgical correction occurred frequently in the juvenile onset males but not in juvenile onset females or the adolescent onset group. Incomplete correction of the varus deformity occurred more frequently in the latter group. The etiology for tibia vara appears to involve varus stress growth suppression, and disruption of endochondral ossification. The major differences between the three groups is due to the age at clinical onset, the amount of remaining growth, and the magnitude of the medial compression forces across the medial aspect of the knee.
Primary lymphoma of bone is a rare lesion comprising less than 5% of all malignant primary bone tumors. Because of this rarity, the diagnosis of this lesion based on clinical findings and standard radiographic evaluations is extremely difficult and may not be entertained until after a biopsy has been performed. We retrospectively reviewed the cases of 22 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of primary lymphoma of bone (appendicular and axial skeleton) who along with standard radiographic evaluations had a technetium 99 bone scan performed as part of the preoperative staging process. A characteristic pattern demonstrating an increased uptake of intense tracer concentration peripherally and a relatively cold central area was seen consistently in all cases. This uptake pattern is then reversed with use of a gallium 67 scan. Because of the ambiguity of plain radiographs in the evaluation of adult bone lesions, radioisotope bone scans should be used as a diagnostic aid in an attempt to obtain as much information as possible about the biologic behavior of the bony lesion prior to any surgical intervention.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
The difficulties encountered in establishing a diagnosis of a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma are emphasized in a patient who developed the lesion 16 years after radiation therapy for a seminoma of the testis. Historically, histologically, electron microscopically, and by microincineration, there was no evidence of asbestos exposure. We believe that present lesion may be a consequence of prior radiation therapy.
Serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was measured in 18 healthy controls, 26 patients with active sarcoidosis, 13 patients with inactive sarcoidosis and seven patients with extensive tuberculosis. The serum ACE activity showed no significant difference between male and female in the control or sarcoidosis groups. There was no correlation between ACE activity and age except in the female active-sarcoid group. ACE activity in the active-sarcoid group was significantly higher than in the control, inactive-sarcoid and tuberculosis groups. The ACE activities at Stages I, II and III of the disease were not significantly different.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.