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Biomedical subjects

P M Waring

Publications and source records attributed to P M Waring.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Prostatic embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma in adults. A clinicopathologic review.

Embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the prostate is a rare, highly malignant tumor that occurs predominantly in male infants and children, in whom it is the most common prostatic sarcoma. Six cases occurring in adults have been published, and the authors report three additional cases. The natural history is characterized by rapid growth, with the typical formation of large pelvic or abdominal masses, often leading renal failure due to bilateral ureteric obstruction. The tumor eventually disseminates widely, mainly to the lungs, bone, liver, and serosal surfaces, and unlike most other sarcomas, regional lymph node metastases are common. Combined modality therapy has resulted in marked improvement in survival rates and reduced surgical morbidity for children with these tumors. However, in adults the prognosis remains poor, with all patients dying of disseminated disease within 16 months of histologic diagnosis (mean survival, 8 months).

Adult

Clearance and fate of leukemia-inhibitory factor (LIF) after injection into mice.

Leukemia-inhibitory factor (LIF) elicits effects on a broad range of cell types, including cells of the monocytic and megakaryocytic series, embryonal stem cells, hepatocytes, adipocytes, and osteoblasts. Native and recombinant LIF, injected intravenously into adult mice, had an initial half-life of 6-8 min and a more prolonged second clearance phase. Clearance of 125I-LIF from the circulation was paralleled by a rapid accumulation in the kidneys, liver, lungs, and spleen and a more gradual accumulation in the thyroid gland. Labeling of the renal glomerular tufts, parenchymal hepatocytes, splenic red pulp, alveolar pneumocytes, and thyroid follicular cells as well as of megakaryocytes and osteoblasts in the bone cavities, placental trophoblasts, and cells of the choroid plexus was demonstrable autoradiographically. The appearance of a large amount of nonprecipitable 125I in the urine suggested that the kidneys were the major route of LIF clearance from the body.

Animals

'Corkscrew-like' bacteria associated with gastritis.

Gastric spiral bacteria morphologically unlike Campylobacter pylori have recently been described in patients with gastritis. We report an additional case. These organisms are as yet unnamed, remain uncultured and are morphologically similar to organisms present in the gastric mucosa of various mammalian species. Their possible role in the pathogenesis of gastritis is discussed.

Adult

Bladder granulomata after bladder surgery.

Bladder granulomata were found in 17 (3%) of 539 patients who had bladder biopsy or resection. The finding of granulomata in 13.6% of patients who had at least two surgical procedures, but never in the first biopsy specimen of any patient was highly significant statistically (P much less than 0.001). The occurrence of granulomata exclusively in patients with bladder carcinoma was related to the significantly greater number of biopsies performed in these patients and not to carcinoma, per se. There were two types of granulomata: necrotizing, palisading granulomata (NPG) resembling rheumatoid granulomata; and foreign-body-type granulomata (FBG). They often occurred together in the same specimen, and transitions from FBG to NPG were evident histologically. The granulomata apparently healed by fibrous scarring. Energy-dispersive analysis of x-rays (EDAX) did not reveal any inorganic foreign material, but showed sulphur in some granulomata, possibly released from necrotic stroma and urothelium. Clinical and morphologic evidence is presented indicating that the granulomata arose as a local reaction to tissue necrosis caused by surgery and/or cautery.

Biopsy

Rare earth deposits in a deceased movie projectionist. A new case of rare earth pneumoconiosis?

The subject described in this case report, a movie projectionist, had approximately 25 years of occupational exposure to carbon arc lamp fumes. The carbon arc deposits were visible in histological sections as small granules within macrophages of the tracheobronchial lymph nodes and hepatic Kupffer's cells. Electron microprobe analysis by energy dispersive analysis of x-rays showed the granules to be composed of the rare earth elements cerium, lanthanum and neodymium, which are the major constituents of carbon arc rods. Tissue concentrations, as determined by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy, were approximately 250-2000 times those of unexposed controls, and there was evidence of their redistribution throughout the reticuloendothelial system. There were no respiratory symptoms, or radiographic or histological pulmonary changes attributable to the progressive accumulation of the rare earth elements, and as such the patient cannot be considered to have suffered from pneumoconiosis. Twenty-one published cases of rare earth pneumoconiosis, mainly in photoengravers exposed to carbon arc fumes, are reviewed and suggest that rare earth oxides are not innocuous dusts. With the increasingly widespread use of rare earth elements there is a likelhood that further occupational groups may have significant but unrecognised exposure.

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