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Biomedical subjects

K Wegener

Publications and source records attributed to K Wegener.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Ménétrier's disease--a rare cause of a protein deficiency syndrome].

Hypoproteinaemia (total proteins 5.2 g/dl) and hypoalbuminaemia (2.7 g/dl) were demonstrated in a 44-year-old woman with leg oedema during the previous four months and 10-kg weight gain during the previous year. A protein-losing enteropathy was diagnosed, all other causes having been excluded. Gastroscopy revealed giant hypertrophic gastritis. A biopsy showed foveolar hyperplasia with some inflammatory infiltrates, typical of Ménétrier's disease. Endosonography excluded any additional infiltrative process of the bowel wall. Long-term treatment with ranitidine, 150 g twice daily, achieved normalization of total protein and albumin concentrations. But the macroscopic changes in the gastric wall were still recognizable on repeat gastroscopy. As there is a danger of malignant degeneration gastroscopy and, if indicated, endosonography should be repeated annually.

Adult

The effects of Thorotrast and quartz on the induction of lung tumors in rats.

In a long-term animal study, the combined and separate effects of Thorotrast (colloidal 232ThO2) and silica dust on the induction of lung tumors were investigated. Female Wistar rats were exposed for 29 d to aerosol concentrations of quartz of either 6 mg m-3, 30 mg m-3, or 0 mg m-3 (6 h d-1, 5 d wk-1). After inhalation, one-half of all exposed animals received a single intravenous injection of enriched Thorotrast (600 microL, 2960 Bq 228 Th mL-1). In all quartz-exposed groups the incidence of benign and malignant lung tumors turned out to be more than 40%. The additional Thorotrast treatment (lifelong exhalation of 220Rn) led to a marked shortening of latency times (first lung tumor was found 1 y after treatment) and to a higher total incidence in the animals exposed to 30 mg m-3 quartz (57 of 87 animals with lung tumors = 65.5%). In the group treated only with Thorotrast, three of 87 animals developed lung tumors. Statistical methods that correct for intercurrent mortality showed a significant increase of the lung tumor risk with respect to Thorotrast treatment, even for the low quartz groups with nearly similar incidences of lung tumors (in the group with ThO2, 39 out of 87 = 44.8%; in the group without ThO2, 37 out of 82 = 45.1%). The tumors were found predominantly in the peripheral regions of the lung and were preceded by proliferation and hyperplasia of the alveolar and bronchiolar epithelium. The results demonstrate a pronounced interactive effect of quartz and Thorotrast on carcinogenesis of the lung. The underlying possible mechanisms are discussed.

Adenocarcinoma, Bronchiolo-Alveolar

The combined and separate action of neutron radiation and zirconium dioxide on the liver of rats.

To simulate the chronic alpha radiation of Thorotrast, the liver of female Wistar rats was exposed to fractionated neutron irradiation at 14-d intervals (0.2 Gy per fraction) over 2 y to a total dose of 10.0 Gy. Prior to the start of irradiation, one-half of the animals received 120 microL of non-radioactive Zirconotrast (ZrO2), which is comparable to Thorotrast with regard to all other physical and chemical properties. One year after beginning irradiation, the first liver tumor was detected. At the end of the life-span study, the incidence of irradiated animals with liver tumors was about 40%. In the animals treated additionally with ZrO2, the incidence, time of onset, and overall number of liver tumors was nearly equal, indicating that the fractionated neutron irradiation was the exclusive cause of tumor development. The lifelong-deposited ZrO2 colloid had no stimulating effect. Compared to earlier animal studies dealing with Thorotrast, the same histological types of benign and malignant liver tumors were found.

Adenoma, Bile Duct

[The significance of papillary biopsy in obstruction of Vater's papilla].

Biopsies of the papilla of Vater were taken in 53 patients after a papillotomy had been carried out during a previous ERC. The macroscopic finding of a papillary stenosis of unknown dignity required an exact histological diagnosis. In 35 patients (66%) a duodenitis/papillitis was found on the histological specimens, in 6 patients (11%) a villous adenoma, and in 7 patients an adenocarcinoma (13%). A metastasis of a melanoma, a schwannoma, and a coagulum were diagnosed once. The papillotomy preceding the biopsy was the only necessary therapy in 46 patients, and endoprosthesis was inserted in 5 patients. In 2 patients the tumor was excised by snare, in 4 patients a surgical resection was carried out. The incidence of malignancy in papillary stenosis emphasizes the significance of a biopsy for histological confirmation of the diagnosis if endoscopically a papillary stenosis is detected.

Adenocarcinoma

[Polyposis of the stomach caused by multiple xanthomas].

Case report on a rare gastric polyposis. Endoscopically the lesions appear as multiple, yellowish, partly villous polypoid changes histologically representing as foam cells und showing deposits of lipids on characteristic stains. Etiopathogenesis are these lesions and their differential diagnosis are discussed.

Diagnosis, Differential

[Malignant melanoma of the nailbed under a skin graft].

The authors report on a case of subungual malignant melanoma, which developed beneath a split-skin graft. The patient had an accident which caused a pathologic growth of the nail. Eleven years later the patient removed the nail, because it became moist, and a surgeon grafted the nail-bed with a split-thickness skin. Six years later we saw a 2 X 2 cm tumor under the skin graft and histologic examination showed a nodular malignant melanoma. Diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for subungual and acral melanomas are discussed.

Diagnosis, Differential

Double tumours of the liver following intravenous thorotrast injection. Patho-anatomical report on two cases.

Observations on the contrast between the livers of two patients who underwent an arteriogram with thorotrast in 1941 have been made. The first case produced a cholangicellular carcinoma (CCC) in addition to atypical proliferations of sinusoidal lining cells. The second case produced a very rare tumour combination of a CCC with a haemangioendothelial sarcoma (Haem-SA the problem of double tumours of the liver following thorotrast injection is discussed in the light of these cases. In addition the discussion includes various opinions on Kupffer cells.

Adenoma, Bile Duct

Investigations into human thorotrastosis. Tissue concentrations of 232-Th and late effects in 13 autopsy cases.

The subjects of investigation were 13 dead thorotrast patients, 10 male, 3 female, with ages ranging from 45 to 79 years. Two thousand organ and tissue specimens were investigated by means of autopsy and by both microscopic-autoradiographic and neutron activation analysis in order to detect late effects and to determine on approximate mean concentration of 232Th (mg per g of tissue). A comparison between late effects and concentrations of the dye medium led to the following conclusions: 1. 232Th is, after intravascular injection, deposited in all organs and tissues of the human body. 2. The highest mean concentrations are shown in the spleen, liver, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. 3. The distribution of 232Th is inhomogeneous in all organs and tissues. The variations of maximum and minimum concentration lie around factor 2.2 X 10(0)-2.4 X 10(5). 4. Late effects occur only in spleen, liver, lymph nodes, and bone marrow, but not in organs and tissues that show a mean concentration of 232Th under 10(-1) mg per g tissue. 5. It is highly probable that tumors of thorotrast patients in organs other than spleen, liver lymph nodes, and bone marrow are not caused by deposition of 232Th or ThO2.

Aged

[Dynamics of the human heart rate during changes of posture under various climatic conditions].

The time course of the heart rate (15-sec-periods) during active orthostasis (10 min) was investigated according to types found by Drischel et al. under different climatic conditions in 51 female and 50 male subjects. Constant types were observed in each subject in 3 repeated tests on different days at 20 degrees C and 55% R.H., the types remaining constant even at 25 and 90% R.H. The increase in environmental temperature from 15 to 30 and 45 degrees C showed a significant alteration from type A via different transitional types to type B. At 45 degrees C, an additional type was observed called superhigh type B, functionally being a precollapse type. The variation in typology includes the dynamics of the initial process of the active orthostasis as well as the deviation between the steady-state of the heart rate in erect and in supine position. The physiological mechanisms eliciting the changes in the dynamic behaviour and the correlations with the effective temperature are discussed.

Climate

[Transplantation and preservation of tissue-typized skin in burns].

At the Department of Plastic Surgery and Burns, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfalklinik Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim, a skinbank with typed skin has been established. The storage system consists of deep-freezing at -196 degrees C in liquid nitrogen. The transplantation of HL-A typed skin was evaluated from the clinical and histological point of view. Due to the effort necessary for such an undertaking this method is critically reviewed.

Burns