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Biomedical subjects

S J Robboy

Publications and source records attributed to S J Robboy.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Strumal carcinoid of the ovary: an analysis of 50 cases of a distinctive tumor composed of thyroid tissue and carcinoid.

Strumal carcinoid of the ovary is a type of germ-cell tumor characterized by an intimate mixture of thyroid tissue and carcinoid. Fifty patients with this type of tumor ranged in age from 21 to 77 years. The tumors measured up to 26 cm in diameter and were always unilateral. In 10% of the cases, the contralateral ovary contained another type of neoplasm, usually a dermoid cyst. Three-fifths of the strumal carcinoids arose in dermoid cysts or in mature solid teratomas. Birefringent calcium oxalate monohydrate crystals were commonly identified in the thyroid colloid, and argentaffin granules, in the carcinoid cells, thus substantiating the identity of the neoplastic components. Although 31% of the tumors were accompanied by focal stromal luteinization, only 8% of the cases exhibited clinical signs of steroid hormone production (endometrial hyperplasia, hirsutism, or virilism). In 8% of the cases, there was evidence suggesting functioning of the thyroid component, but no patient had the carcinoid syndrome. Only one woman died of tumour; five others died of unrelated causes. The remaining patients remained alive and well; 23, for at least five years, and 15, for at least ten years postoperatively. Although the carcinoid component of the strumal carcinoid has been considered a malignant transformation of struma ovarii, it is almost always benign, and treatment with a simple oophorectomy or salpingo-oophorectomy is effective.

Adult↗

Endodermal sinus tumor of the pineal region.

Two cases of endodermal sinus tumor of the pineal region are reported and compared with 16 others in the literature. The preponderance of neoplasms occurs in boys, usually in their second decade. The diagnosis is usually established within three months of the onset of non-specific symptoms of an intracranial mass. Treatment with operation or radiotherapy alone is inadequate. Most patients have died within two years, some with widespread intradural metastases. The one individual who has survived five years was treated with both operation and radiotherapy.

Adolescent↗

Ultrastructure of 16 cases of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix in young women.

Sixteen cases of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the cervix and vagina in young women were studied by electron microscopy and the observations were compared with the light microscopic appearance. Ultrastructurally, the neoplastic cells were found to be of the same basic type, regardless of whether light microscopy disclosed a solid or tubulocystic tumor pattern, and whether the cells were clear, hobnail, flat or of a nonspecific müllerian appearance. Cytoplasmic glycogen and short, blunt, surface villi were the outstanding features. Less consistent findings included prominent Golgi apparatuses and numerous mitochondria. The fine structural characteristics were similar to those reported for clear cell adenocarcinoma of the endometrium and ovary in older women. This study disclosed no difference between 14 tumors that arose in patients with confirmed histories of prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES) or dienestrol, and reported cases of clear cell carcinoma in which there were no histories of such exposure. No specific ultrastructural features could be identified as prognostic indices for the neoplasms.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Torulopsis glabrata fungemia--a clinical pathological study.

The clinical findings, pathologic features, and outcome were investigated in 46 patients in whom Torulopsis glabrata was isolated in 131 specimens of blood. Nineteen of the patients had only a single positive blood culture and no evidence of systemic yeast infection, while 27 patients had a clinically significant fungemia based upon the occurrence of 2 or more positive blood cultures, or the combination of a positive blood culture and isolation of the organism from a closed body cavity or demonstration of the yeast in tissue sections. The predisposing factors to the development of fungemia included the presence of intravenous lines, indwelling Foley catheters, antibiotics and surgery, especially when the gastrointestinal tract was involved. Only 22% of patients received either steroids or cytostatic agents. Possible portals of entry were suggested by the prior isolation of the organism from urine, sputum, wounds, and central venous catheter tips in most of the patients. Twelve of 27 patients with clinically significant fungemia were treated. The initial mode of therapy in nine patients was removal of intravenous lines because of the clinical suspicion of catheter related sepsis. Seven of the patients improved rapidly and one more after amphotericin B was subsequently administered. Amphotericin B was the initial therapy in three cases. One patient was cured while another died of an unrelated infection. Five patients were not treated although the isolation of T. glabrata had been reported; the fact that the presence of the organism was felt to be unimportant was considered to be a factor in the delay of treatment. In the remaining 10 patients the organism was isolated only after the patient had died. Division of the patients into four groups based upon whether the individuals survived, died of unrelated disease, died with potentially lethal infection, or died with T. glabrata infection significantly contributing to death, revealed a spectrum of disease, certain signs of which appeared to be of predictive value as prognostic indices of survival and severity of the infection. Seven patients with transient fungemia experienced an acute episode of high spiking fever (greater than 102.5 degrees F), rigors and/or hypotension, six of whom improved after the intravenous catheter was removed, suggesting a catheter-related sepsis. In contrast, persistent low grade fever (less than 102.5 degrees F) characterized eight of the nine patients in whom T. glabrata infection was considered either potentially lethal, or contributing significantly to death. A deteriorating clinical course with organ failure was also associated with this latter category of patients. Catheter-induced specticemia was considered in only two patients in this category. The autopsy and clinical findings in this investigation as well as reported experimental studies suggest that T. glabrata is an organism of low virulence. The patients' underlying disease (e.g., neoplasia) and coexisting bacterial infection are the most important factors responsible for death.

Adult↗

Vaginal epithelial changes in young women enrolled in the National Cooperative Diethylstilbestrol Adenosis (DESAD) project.

Initial clinical findings are reported for the 3339 young women enrolled in the Diethylstilbestrol Adenosis (DESAD) project. Changes in the vaginal mucosa (VEC--vaginal epithelial changes), which were detected by colposcopy or iodine staining, occurred in 34% of 1275 participants identified by review of prenatal records 59% of participants who themselves requested entry into the project, and 65% of participants referred by a physician. Analysis of data on the 298 women who were identified by record review and whose prenatal records contained complete information about drug exposure indicated that VEC is most closely associated with the timing of the onset of intrauterine exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES), total dose, and length of exposure. Frequency of VEC was also found to decrease with age. No instances of severe dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, invasive squamous cell adenocarcinoma, or clear cell carcinoma were observed among the women identified by record review.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Changing trends and prognostic features in endometrial cancer associated with exogenous estrogen therapy.

A study was undertaken to investigate changing trends in the microscopic patterns of endometrial carcinoma and to compare the biologic characteristics of those cases associated with and without estrogen usage. After each case was reviewed independently and in a random order by at least 2 pathologists, a diagnosis of cancer was agreed on in 274 patients who had been treated by 5 gynecologists at the Masachusetts General Hospital between 1940 and 1971. Six microscopic patterns were identified (adenocarcinoma, adenoacanthoma, atypical adenoacanthoma, adenosquamous carcinoma, clear-cell adenocarcinoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma). The frequency of each pattern relative to the other 5 changed only slightly during the 30-year interval. The tumors that developed in estrogen users were more highly differentiated than those that developed in nonusers (P less than 0.005) and were found at an earlier average age (P less than 0.02). That the adenoacanthoma was associated with estrogen usage more frequently (51%) than any other tumor type (P less than 0.02) may reflect, in part, a similar and lower mean age of estrogen users (56 years) and patients with adenoacanthoma (55 years) compared with that of nonusers with the other forms of tumors (60--67 years). Although the overall 5- and 10-year survival rates of the estrogen users were higher than those of the nonusers, the differences between the 2 groups disappeared when the grade of the neoplasm was considered.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Prenatal diethylstilbestrol exposure and human genital tract abnormalities.

The incidence of clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina and cervix associated with intrauterine exposure to DES and similar compounds during the first half of pregnancy has increased. Ninety percent of these cancers have occurred in patients 14 years of age or older. Although these carcinomas are exceedingly rare, nonneoplastic abnormalities including vaginal adenosis, cervical eversion (ectropion), and transverse cervical and vaginal ridges are frequent in the exposed population, particularly if the drug was administered early in pregnancy. Current evidence favors a disturbance in development of the müllerian duct as the explanation of these changes. Whether DES is only a teratogen or also a carcinogen is unknown, as is the possible role of other factors in the development of cancer. An increased incidence of cancer among exposed males has not been documented.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Urogenital sinus origin of mucinous and ciliated cysts of the vulva.

The origin of mucinous and ciliated cells in the vulva and the pathogenesis of cysts lined by these epithelia were investigated. Small mucinous glands numbering from one to more than a hundred were encountered in 9 of 19 vulvas (53%) that were consecutively examined at autopsy. Eleven other cysts were encountered clinically. Six were lined by mucinous epithelium, three by pseudostratified cells with cilia plus small foci of mucinous epithelium, and two by ciliated epithelium only. Four of the cysts with ciliated epithelium were otherwise typical Bartholin's gland cysts. It is concluded that glands lined by either mucinous or ciliated epithelia are normal constituents of the vulvar vestibule, are derived from urogenital sinus, and develop into cysts when the neck leading to the vulvar surface becomes inflamed and obstructed.

Adult↗

Design and preliminary observations of National Cooperative Diethylstilbestrol Adenosis (DESAD) Project.

The National Cooperative Diethylstilbestrol Adenosis (DESAD) Project has completed the major portion of its enrollment phase with the examination of more than 3000 daughters of women taking synthetic nonsteroidal estrogens (denoted DES) during pregnancies occurring from the early 1940s to the mid-1960s. The aims of the Project are to fill urgent needs for information on the prevalence and incidence of structural and epithelial abnormalities or neoplastic changes and their complications in these young women. Participants are grouped by mode of entry as identified by prenatal record review (40.1%), documented as DES-exposed but walking in (25.1%), or referred (22.8%) to the DESAD Project for examination, and not documented as exposed but having gynecologic abnormalities typical of those associated with DES exposure (12.0%). This study cohort, in part having paired controls, will be examined annually for at least 5 years. Details of the design and selected preliminary findings are reported.

Adolescent↗

Squamous cell dysplasia and carcinoma in situ of the cervix and vagina after prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol.

Squamous cell abnormalities of the vagina and cervix were evaluated in 1424 women exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero. The prevalence of dysplasia was 2.1% and the incidence 0.85/100 person-years of followup. The dysplastic epithelial changes were almost always mild in women with no prior history of dysplasia and was slightly more frequent in the cervix than the vagina. Severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ (CIS) were encountered only in those subjects specifically referred because of those abnormalities. The most common problem in the diagnosis of these squamous cell changes was the misinterpretation of mature and immature metaplastic cells for dysplastic squamous cells. Discordance between biopsy and cytology was common-place in the detection and followup of dysplasia, especially when it was mild. There were no instances in the study where cytology and biopsy samples from the vagina were both abnormal concurrently. Colposcopically directed biopsies did not increase the frequency of confirmation of cytologic findings. These data suggest that both cytology and biopsy of abnormal segments of the vagina and cervix remain an integral part of the examination of the DES-exposed female during long-term follow-up studies.

Adolescent↗

Immediate pathologic confirmation of radiologic interpretations by computer feedback.

A computer system is used to provide automatic pathology diagnostic feedback to radiologists. This feedback occurs on a daily basis whenever surgical specimens are obtained for which pertinent radiologic examinations have been performed. On-line inquiry capability is also provided. The implementation relies on linkage between two operational computer systems at Massachusetts General Hospital, for pathology specimen accession management and radiology examination scheduling.

Computers↗