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Biomedical subjects

O Kawanami

Publications and source records attributed to O Kawanami.

80 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1979

Ultrastructure of pulmonary mast cells in patients with fibrotic lung disorders.

The topographic distribution, population density, and ultrastructural features of metachromatic cells (mast cells and basophilic leukocytes) were studied in lung biopsies from five control patients and 17 patients with fibrotic lung disorders. The great majority of metachromatic cells were mast cells. The average number of metachromatic cells per square millimeter of tissue section was much larger in patients with fibrotic lung disorders (45.8 +/- 6.5) than in control patients (2.6 +/- 1.6). In control patients, mast cells were most frequently seen in subpleural and perivascular connective tissue. In contrast, the vast majority of mast cells in patients with fibrotic lung disorders was present in thickened, fibrous alveolar septa; mast cells also were found within the alveolar epithelial layer and alveolar lumina. The quantitative distribution of different types of mast cell granules differed in the two groups of patients: granules composed of scrolls were more frequent in control patients, and granules of the combined type (containing mixtures of different components within the same granule) were more frequent in patients with fibrotic lung disorders. Mast cells in the latter patients appeared to migrate through defects in the basement membrane into the epithelial layer and alveolar lumina; mast cells in these areas often showed reduced numbers of granules and disorganized granule content. These changes suggest that pulmonary parenchymal mast cells in fibrotic lung disorders undergo a chronic process of partial degranulation which differs from that found in anaphylaxis; this chronic release of mast cell products may contribute to the continuing alveolar injury and the ventilation-perfusion inequalities observed in the fibrotic lung disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

Inflammatory and immune processes in the human lung in health and disease: evaluation by bronchoalveolar lavage.

Bronchoalveolar lavage is an invaluable means of accurately evaluating the inflammatory and immune processes of the human lung. Although lavage recovers only those cells and proteins present on the epithelial surface of the lower respiratory tract, comparison with open lung biopsies shows that these constituents are representative of the inflammatory and immune systems of the alveolar structures. With the use of these techniques, sufficient materials are obtained from normal individuals to allow characterization of not only the types of cells and proteins present but their functions as well. Such observations have been useful in defining the inflammatory and immune capabilities of the normal lung and provide a basis for the study of lung disease. Lavage methods have been used to characterize inflammatory and immune processes of the lower respiratory tract in destructive, infectious, neoplastic, and interstitial disorders. From the data already acquired, it is apparent that bronchoalveolar lavage will yield major insights into the pathogenesis, staging, and therapy decisions involved in these disorders. (Am J Pathol 97:149--206, 1979).

Bacterial Infections↗
PubMed1978

Anchoring fibrils. A new connective tissue structure in fibrotic lung disease.

Electron microscopic studies of lung were made and compared in 17 patients with lung disease (10 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 3 with collagen--vascular diseases, 3 with sarcoidosis, and 1 with chronic eosinophilic pneumonia) and in 5 control patients. In control patients, the alveolar epithelial cells were normal, and no hemidesmosomes were present between the plasma membranes and the basal laminae. In comparison, cuboidal alveolar epithelial cells were present in 15 of the patients with fibrotic lung disease; in 9 of these the alveolar epithelial cells were multilayered. In 7 of the latter 9 patients (5 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 2 with collagen-vascular diseases), the basal laminae of the alveolar epithelial cells were attached to the plasma membranes by hemidesmosomes and to the underlying interstitial connective tissue by "anchoring fibrils." These fibrils measured from 4000 to 6000 A in length and from 200 to 600 A in width. One or both ends of the anchoring fibrils inserted into thebasal lamina, often forming arcs through which collagen fibrils and connective tissue microfibrils penetrated. Anchoring fibrils showed a complex pattern of transverse banding, which differed from that of collagen and appeared to be symmetric about the center of the fibril. These anchoring fibrils, which resemble those in normal skin and other tissues, were not found in lungs of control patients. In addition, there was a significant correlation between the severity of the pulmonary fibrosis and the presence of anchoring fibrils. These observations suggest that in severe fibrotic lung disease, anchoring fibrils reinforce the attachment of the basal lamina of multilayered alveolar epithelial cells to interstitial connective tissue.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multiple brain abscesses complicating treatment of a severe burn injury: an unusual case report.

Death after burn injury is usually due to complications, of which bacterial causes are dominant. We treated a patient with a burn injury who had the unusual complication of multiple brain abscesses, which were caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The patient, a 27-year-old man, had MRSA septicemia on day 9 and pneumonia on day 18. Hemiparesis, which was the first manifestation of brain abscesses, occurred on day 27. Although antibiotics were administered aggressively, the infection was never resolved, and the patient died on day 50. Brain abscesses and MRSA infection are still major problems in the treatment of burns. This is the first report of (metastatic) multiple brain abscesses complicating treatment of a burn injury.

Adult↗