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J Varela-Duran

Publications and source records attributed to J Varela-Duran.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Activity of leucocyte elastase in women with coronary artery disease documented using angiography.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies suggest that leucocyte elastase is involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. The objective of this study was to characterize the role of leucocyte elastase in arterial disease in women. METHODS: Forty-two women underwent coronary angiography because of chest pain or valvulopathy. Twenty-three showed no signs of lesions (group 1) and 19 had coronary stenosis (group 2). Their age, weight and height were recorded, together with the presence of angina, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, any family history of coronary disease and levels of tobacco consumption. Leucocyte counts, lipid levels and neutrophil elastase concentrations were determined from peripheral blood samples. RESULTS: Levels of elastase were found to be significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 (mean +/- SD 53.3 +/- 15.9 compared with 28.6 +/- 16.8 micrograms/l, P < 0.01). Patients from group 2, who had a greater mean age (69 +/- 7 compared with 58 +/- 9 years for group 1, p < 0.001), were more often diabetic (26% compared with 0%, p < 0.05) and were more likely to have family histories of ischaemic cardiomyopathy (59% compared with 18%, P < 0.05). However, multivariate analysis indicated that age and elastase levels were of independent value as predictors of coronary artery disease. CONCLUSION: The concentration of elastase in peripheral blood is higher in women who have stenosis on coronary angiography.

Aged

Neurofibroma of the ureter.

We report a case of neurofibroma of the ureter without other clinical signs of von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis. The patient presented with flank pain, and excretory urography, retrograde urography and computerized abdominal tomography demonstrated a ureteral mass. The light and electron microscopic characteristics, as well as the histogenesis of ureteral neurofibroma, are discussed.

Adolescent

Calcifying synovial sarcoma.

Analysis of the clinicopathological features and the available follow-up data in 32 patients with extensively calcified synovial sarcoma revealed an age incidence and anatomic distribution similar to that of ordinary synovial sarcomas without or with minimal calcification, but indicated a more favorable survival. The median age of 32 patient in this series was 26 years; the predominant location of the tumor was the soft tissues of the lower extremities; its average size was 4.6 cm (range, 1.5-20 cm). All of the tumors showed a focal biphasic cellular pattern and exhibited roentgenographic or microscopic evidence of extensive calcification and/or osseous metaplasia. Of the 26 patients with follow-up information (average 8.9 years) 17 were alive and well and six had died of their diseases, two after 7 and 19 years. Three additional patients were living with no signs of disease 1 1/2, 2 1/2, and three years after diagnosis, respectively. The five-year survival rate of 82.6 percent of this series is considerably better than the reported five-year survival rates of synovial sarcoma which range from 25-51%.

Adolescent

Postirradiation mixed müllerian tumors of the uterus: a comparative clinicopathologic study.

Nine patients with mixed müllerian tumors (MMT) of the uterus associated with a history of prior pelvic irradiation were compared clinically and pathologically with 8 nonirradiation-associated MMT control patients. Patients with postirradiation tumors presented at a younger age and with symptoms indicative of extensive intraabdominal disease while the nonirradiation-associated control patients were initially evaluated for abnormal uterine bleeding only. Two-thirds of the postirradiation patient's neoplasms were classified as heterologous MMT (mixed mesodermal tumor) whereas 62% of the control patient's neoplasms were homologous MMT (carcinosarcoma). Regardless of clinical presentation or histologic composition both groups fared equally poorly with average survival times of six and seven months, respectively. We were unable to substantiate that some histologic components of uterine MMT denote a poorer prognosis than others or that the postirradiation MMT behaves any differently, in the course of time, from the sporadic type. When uterine MTT is encountered in a patient under 55 years of age, the possibility that pelvic irradiation was administered some years before should be raised.

Adult

The rhabdomyoblast in mixed Müllerian tumors of the uterus and ovary. An immunohistochemical study of myoglobin in 25 cases.

Forty per cent of 25 uterine and ovarian mixed müllerian tumors contained stainable myoglobin that was present in the abundant cytoplasm of large rounded tumor cells. Intracytoplasmic cross striations identified rhabdomyoblasts in 32% of the cases, but were difficult to find. The authors believe that the immunoperoxidase technic successfully demonstrates skeletal muscle differentiation in a high proportion of mixed müllerian tumors and may be employed as a suitable diagnostic aid. However, the nonspecific staining of benign and malignant squamous elements should be interpreted with caution.

Aged

Sea-blue histiocyte syndrome. A secondary degenerative process of macrophages?

A case of sea-blue histiocyte syndrome occurred in a 5-year-old boy. Associated laboratory findings include increased levels of hepatic phospholipids and glycosphingolipids, increased serum alkaline phosphatase level, and increased 24-hour urine mucopolysaccharide value. Bone marrow and liver biopsies and excision of chronically enlarged tonsillar tissue were performed. Macrophages that stained sea-blue with Wright-Giemsa stain were found in all tissues. Electron microscopic studies showed degenerating histiocytes packed with abundant loosely arranged myelin figures, some containing fingerprint-like cores formed by concentrically arranged lamellae with a periodicity of 45 A. These ultrastructural findings are compared with those obtained in other reported cases of the sea-blue histiocyte syndrome, as well as with those found in other clinical conditions in which degenerative macrophages are present. We conclude that the sea-blue histiocyte syndrome is a clinical entity that is associated with a variety of disease states; this entity is characterized by the presence of degenerating macrophages in various organs.

Bone Marrow

Postirradiation osteosarcoma in childhood. A clinicopathologic study of three cases and review of the literature.

Three cases of postirradiation osteosarcoma which presented in childhood are reported and the pertinent literature reviewed. The children had been treated in each instance before the age of 3 years for an astrocytoma, retinoblastoma, and neuroblastoma, respectively. An average latent interval of 9.5 years lapsed before the osteosarcomas were diagnosed. Two of the tumors occurred in unusual sites, the cervical vertebrae and maxilla but were within the fields of prior irradiation. The tumors were predominantly sclerotic and were high-grade osteosarcomas. Only one patient has remained free of disease after treatment. One tumor-related death has occurred and the third patient has had two wedge resections of pulmonary metatases.

Adolescent

Vascular leiomyosarcoma: the malignant counterpart of vascular leiomyoma.

The clinical and pathological findings of six cases of leiomyosarcoma arising from blood vessels of different caliber are described. The term vascular leiomyosarcoma, having both a topographic and morphologic significance, is proposed for these tumors. The histologic pattern is characterized by a proliferation of atypical smooth muscle cells with a large number of intermingled blood vessels. Mitoses were counted per 10 high power field (hpf) and tumors were divided in three groups I, 10 to 20 mitoses, group II, 20 to 35 mitoses, and group III, more than 35 mitoses per 10 hpf. The mitotic index seems to be the most important pathological feature on which a prognostic evaluation for vascular leiomyosarcoma can be based. Tumors in group I had neither local recurrences nor metastases; the one tumor in group II had one local recurrence, but the patient is free of disease 6 years after surgical treatment; the three tumors in group III developed distant metastases and constitutional symptoms. Vascular leiomyoma, bizarre leiomyoma, and hemangiopericytoma are included in the differential diagnosis of vascular leimyosarcoma. The possibility that vascular leiomyosarcoma arising from small vessels represents the malignant counterpart of vascular leiomyoma is proposed.

Adult