Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N Pennelli.
Precise preoperative diagnosis of three malignant nerve sheath tumors (MNST) was based on their remarkably uniform and highly characteristic cytologic appearance. The differential diagnosis with benign nerve sheath tumors and other spindle cell sarcomas is addressed, and the possibility of achieving confident diagnosis on cytologic material from at least some soft-tissue sarcomas is confirmed.
We explored the possibility of simultaneous application of histochemical and immunohistochemical staining techniques on the same paraffin-embedded human tissue section. Conventional histological stains (PAS, Alcian, Alcian-PAS, Van Gieson, Gomori silver impregnation, and Giemsa) were used in association with a battery of markers (keratins, leucocyte common antigen, S-100 protein, Factor VIII-related antigen) that are widely employed in diagnostic and experimental studies. We found that the best procedure was to perform immunostaining before the histochemical reaction, as this enables all the other possible combinations to be carried out. In addition, several detection systems, such as peroxidase-anti-peroxidase (PAP), alkaline phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP), and avidin-biotin complex (ABC), were tested and all gave consistent results. Some minor modifications of the histological staining methods were necessary, but the current immunohistochemical techniques could be used as established. Preliminary findings indicate that immunohistochemistry can be combined with histochemistry techniques by means of a relatively simple procedure whose only disadvantage is the time required to carry out the double staining.
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The association of lymphoma and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity in a patient with a rare congenital clotting disorder (Factor X Friuli) is reported. The propositus was a previously asymptomatic HIV-positive 46-year-old man who suddenly presented a rapidly evolving right exophthalmos due to a centroblastic lymphoma, as the presenting symptom of full-blown AIDS. The clinical picture was characterized by unusual site of presentation, advanced stage and fatal course over a short period of time, despite therapy. Bone marrow, but not lymph node or parenchymal involvement, was present. Central nervous system involvement, with an unusual diffuse and massive pattern, and the B-cell origin of the lesion were demonstrated at autopsy. Few reports exist so far about the association of malignancy and HIV in patients with congenital coagulation disorders and this is the first report about a defect other than classic hemophilia.
PURPOSE: To investigate the pathologic substrates of sudden death in young competitive athletes. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-two cases of sudden death in young competitive athletes occurring in the Veneto region (northern Italy) in the period January 1979 to December 1989 were studied by postmortem examination. The athletes included 19 males and three females, ranging in age from 11 to 35 years (mean, 23 years). RESULTS: In 18 cases, sudden death occurred during (16 cases) or immediately after (two cases) a competitive sport activity. In 10 subjects, sudden death was apparently the first sign of disease. Postmortem examination disclosed that this fatality was due to arrhythmic cardiac arrest in 17 cases; among these, right ventricular cardiomyopathy, also known as "right ventricular dysplasia," was the most frequently encountered cardiovascular disease (six cases), followed by atherosclerotic coronary artery disease (four cases), conduction system pathology (three cases), anomalous origin of right coronary artery from the wrong aortic sinus (two cases), and mitral valve prolapse (two cases). In two athletes, the abrupt lethal complication was "mechanical" and consisted of pulmonary embolism and rupture of the aorta; in three athletes, death was due to a cerebral cause. All athletes with right ventricular cardiomyopathy died during effort, and most had a history of palpitations and/or syncope. Whenever available, electrocardiographic (ECG) tracings showed inverted T waves in precordial leads and/or left bundle branch block ventricular arrhythmias. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicopathologic correlations indicate that in the Veneto region of Italy, right ventricular cardiomyopathy is not so rare among the cardiovascular diseases associated with the risk of arrhythmic cardiac arrest, and seems to account for the majority of cases of sudden death in young athletes; this disorder can be suspected during life on the basis of prodromal symptoms and ECG signs.
Two women, 34 and 54 years old, died suddenly from acute coronary occlusion due to spontaneous dissecting haematoma (aneurysm) involving the entire left coronary artery and the right coronary artery, respectively. In the older woman, cystic medial necrosis of the coronary tunica media was observed. The younger case was the only sudden death due to dissecting hematoma among 120 cases in the Registry of "juvenile sudden death" in the Veneto Region, Italy. From a review of the literature, following the first description in 1931, we collected 97 cases with the following characteristics: mean age in women, 39 years, in men, 48 years; only significant risk factor: peripartum (34% of women); coronary arteries involved: isolated left anterior descending (52.5%, equally distributed among women and men), right (24%, mainly men), left (13.5%, only women), multiple vessels (8%), left circumflex artery (2%). The clinical presentation was cardiac arrest with sudden death in 49.5%, acute, non-fatal myocardial infarct in 33%, and acute fatal myocardial infarct in 17.5% of the cases. The prognosis is very poor, and emergency medical or surgical myocardial revascularization is rarely feasible.
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Electron microscopy revealed the presence of annulate lamellae in the cytoplasm of a heavily granulated prolactin cell adenoma that had been removed from a 34-year-old male patient presenting impotence. To our knowledge this is the third case of pituitary adenomas where annulate lamellae are reported.
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Two cases of androgen secreting adrenocortical carcinoma have been described by light and electron microscopy. The histological and ultrastructural features of the tumour cells were similar to those of compact cells of zona reticularis and to those described in virilizing adenomas. They possess numerous mitochondria with lamellar and tubular cristae, abundant smooth endoplasmic reticulum, lipofuscin bodies and scanty lipid. Irregularly shaped, crenated mitochondria, with outpouchings of the outer limiting membrane have also been observed. The clusters of neoplastic cells were surrounded by basement membrane which demonstrated a focal discontinuity, probably reflecting malignancy of the tumours. Hyperplasia of smooth endoplasmic reticulum and the presence of outpouchings of the mitochondrial outer limiting membrane might be the morphological manifestation of endocrine activity of the tumours.
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A 17-year-old girl with negative familial and personal history developed a progressive neurologic disorder characterized by cortical amaurosis, metal deterioration and spastic tetraparesis. Death occurred one year after the onset of symptoms. Histopathologic examination of the C.N.S. showed the presence of extensive, discontinuous demyelination of the white matter of the centrum ovale, with preservation of perivascular myelin islets, associated with massive fat degradation, loss of axons and severe astroglial proliferation. This case belongs to the group of sudanophilic leucodystrophies, being an atypical case, a transition between pure sudanophilic leucodystrophy and the group of Pelizaeus-Merzbacher's disease.
A case of myocellular necrosis by cathecholamines in a patient presenting pheocromocytoma is reported. Death was due to cerbral apoplexy. The histological findings are quite specific and show myofibrillar degeneration with substitution of the normal striation by coarse sarcomeric transversal bands. The possible role of necrosis by catecholamines in sudden deaths and non-coronary myocardiosclerosis is emphasized.
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