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Biomedical subjects

P Toner

Publications and source records attributed to P Toner.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

The 'ABC for life' programme - teaching basic life support in schools.

BACKGROUND: Less than 1% of the general public know how to assess or manage someone who has collapsed. It has been estimated that if 15-20% of the population were capable of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mortality of out of hospital cardiac arrest could be decreased significantly. Training basic life support (BLS) skills to school children would be the most cost effective way of achieving this goal and ensuring that a large proportion of the population acquire basic life saving skills. AIMS: To assess retention of knowledge of basic life support 6 months after a single course of instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation designed specifically for school children. SETTING: School pupils in a rural location in one region of the United Kingdom. METHODS: A course of instruction in cardiopulmonary resuscitation - the 'ABC for life' programme - specifically designed to teach 10-12-year-old school children basic life support skills. The training session was given to school pupils in a rural location in Northern Ireland. A 22 point questionnaire was used to assess acquisition and retention of basic life support knowledge. RESULTS: Children instructed in cardiopulmonary resuscitation showed a highly significant increase in level of knowledge following the training session. While their level of knowledge decreased over a period of 6 months it remained significantly higher than that of a comparable group of children who had never been trained. CONCLUSION: A training programme designed and taught as part of the school curriculum would have a significant impact on public health.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗

Basal cell adenocarcinoma of the submandibular gland.

Basal cell adenoma is a well recognized histopathologic variant of monomorphic adenoma of salivary gland, but in recent years there have been occasional reports of malignant basal cell tumors of major salivary glands. We present a case report of one such basal cell adenocarcinoma arising in the submandibular gland and discuss the differential diagnosis and distinction from a basal cell adenoma. We also review the published literature on basal cell adenocarcinoma. This is the first case of basal cell adenocarcinoma to be studied in detail by both immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy. There has been debate in the past as to the cell of origin of salivary gland basal cell tumors and specifically as to whether myoepithelial differentiation occurs in these tumors. The immunohistochemical and ultrastructural features of this case provide evidence for a dual population of ductal and myoepithelial cells. A flow cytometric analysis of nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid content showed the presence of DNA aneuploidy within one tissue block.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Cytokeratin intermediate filament expression in benign and malignant breast disease.

AIM: To carry out a comprehensive study of cytokeratin expression in benign and malignant breast epithelium and breast myoepithelial cells; to examine changes in the cytokeratin profile in malignant and benign epithelium and in carcinomas of increasing histological grade. METHODS: Frozen sections from fibroadenomas (19 cases), fibrocystic disease (19 cases), and infiltrating ductal (68 cases), lobular (seven cases), and mucinous carcinomas (three cases) were examined using a panel of monoclonal antibodies. RESULTS: The luminal epithelium in all fibroadenomas and all cases of fibrocystic disease, as well as tumour cells in most carcinomas, reacted with the specific antibodies to cytokeratins 7, 8, 18, and 19 and to antibodies which included these cytokeratins in their specificities (Cam 5.2, AE1, AE3, RCK102, and LP34). In a few ductal carcinomas none of the tumour cells reacted for cytokeratins 7, 8, or 18. Three ductal carcinomas expressed cytokeratin 14. Only occasional cases expressed cytokeratins 3, 4, 10, and 13. Antibodies which included cytokeratins 5 and 14 in their specificities detected myoepithelial cells less efficiently than antiactin antibodies. CONCLUSION: The cytokeratin profiles in the luminal epithelium in benign breast disease and in tumour cells in most carcinomas are similar in most cases. Some carcinomas, however, are negative for cytokeratins 7, 8, or 18. This may provide a means of predicting the biological behaviour of a histologically borderline lesion.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Vimentin and cytokeratin expression in nodular hyperplasia and carcinoma of the prostate.

AIM: To assess the value of vimentin and cytokeratin (CK) intermediate filament proteins (IFPs) in distinguishing between nodular hyperplasia and carcinoma of the prostate and in predicting prognosis in prostatic cancer. METHODS: Fifteen carcinomas and 49 cases of nodular hyperplasia were studied using frozen sections and monoclonal antibodies to CK and vimentin IFPs. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference in vimentin expression between nodular hyperplasia and carcinoma. The luminal epithelium in both also reacted with antibodies which detect CK8, 18 and 19. CK 7 expression was found in 57% of cases of nodular hyperplasia and was not identified in any carcinoma. There was a reaction with antibodies to CK1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, and 13 in only a minority of cases. There was no statistically significant difference in vimentin and CK reactivity in high and low grade carcinomas. CONCLUSION: Neither vimentin nor CK expression assists in establishing whether a prostatic lesion is benign or malignant or in predicting the biological behaviour of a prostatic carcinoma.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

Vimentin expression in benign and malignant breast epithelium.

AIMS: To determine vimentin expression in epithelial cells in benign breast disease and malignant breast tumours; to assess the value of vimentin expression as a prognostic indicator in breast carcinoma. METHODS: Frozen and formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded sections from 78 carcinomas, three phyllodes tumours, 19 fibroadenomas and 19 cases of fibrocystic disease were examined with a monoclonal antibody from the V9 clone. A correlation between vimentin expression and known prognostic indicators was sought in ductal carcinomas. The intracellular localisation of vimentin was examined in benign and malignant lesions. RESULTS: Vimentin expression was identified on frozen section in the cells of ductal (53%), lobular (86%), and mucinous (33%) carcinomas and in the luminal epithelium of fibroadenomas (68%), cases of fibrocystic disease (47%), and a malignant phyllodes tumour. Formalin fixation reduced the percentage of carcinomas and cases of benign disease in which vimentin was detected. This reduction was more pronounced in fibroadenoma and fibrocystic disease than in ductal carcinoma. Associations were identified between vimentin expression as detected on frozen section and tumour grade, size, number of lymph nodes affected, oestrogen receptor content and growth fraction. Only the association with grade was significant (p = 0.045). There was no significant correlation between any of these prognostic variables and vimentin expression on paraffin wax sections. There was no difference in the intracellular localisation of vimentin staining between benign and malignant lesions, or between low and high grade ductal carcinomas. CONCLUSION: There is some loss of vimentin immunoreactivity after formalin fixation. Vimentin expression does not assist in differentiating between benign and malignant breast disease, but is correlated with tumour grade in ductal carcinoma.

Adenofibroma↗

Intermediate filament expression of ductal carcinoma cells in fine needle aspirates of the breast.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency of occurrence of vimentin expression in fine needle aspirates of ductal carcinoma of the breast and the association of vimentin expression with established prognostic indicators. STUDY DESIGN: Cytocentrifuge preparations made from fine needle aspirates of 51 cases of ductal carcinoma were studied. RESULTS: Vimentin expression, detected in 61% of cases, was positively associated with tumor size, lymph node status, tumor grade, growth fraction and negative estrogen receptor status, but only in the case of lymph node status did the association reach the level of statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Vimentin expression can be detected in breast cancer using fine needle aspiration. Further study is necessary to determine whether it provides independent prognostic information.

Biopsy, Needle↗