A simple predictive formula for the blood requirement in patients with high-energy blunt injuries transferred within one hour post-trauma.

Aims: To recognize patients who require massive transfusion at the early stage of blunt trauma, we retrospectively investigated patients with high-energy blunt injuries transferred within 1 h post-trauma. Methods: Between August 2007 and July 2011, 233 trauma patients were: (i) injured by a high-energy blunt mechanism with Injury Severity Score ≥9; (ii) not dead on arrival; (iii) older than 9 years; and (iv) at our center within 1 h after injury. The findings for 113 of those patients were analyzed, including those produced by ultrasonography, computed tomography, and arterial blood gas analyses. Results: Of 113 patients, 33 underwent massive transfusion (≥6 units) within 8 h of arrival. A logistic regression analysis revealed that an arterial lactate level ≥28 mg/dL (P < 0.001; odds ratio, 105.11; 95% confidence interval, 12.58-2,718.84) and a flat ratio of the inferior vena cava on computed tomography ≥3 (P < 0.001; odds ratio, 32.50; 95% confidence interval, 4.44-714.44) were significant independent predictors for a massive transfusion within 8 h. In a receiver operating curve analysis, the area under the curve of the need for massive transfusion was 0.956, with a sensitivity of 0.94 and a specificity of 0.90. A linear predictive formula for the probability (P) of receiving a massive transfusion was generated as P = 2 × lactate (mg/dL) + 15 × the flat ratio of inferior vena cava - 103. Using another 52 trauma patients, the formula was validated. Conclusions: An elevated level of arterial lactate and the flat ratio of inferior vena cava were significant predictors for identifying the patients who would require a massive transfusion in the early stage after high-energy blunt trauma.

Epithelial and cartilaginous differentiation in clear cell chondrosarcoma.

Clear cell chondrosarcoma is a rare cartilaginous bone tumor, and little is known about its pathology. We investigated the immunohistochemical expression profiles of cytokeratins (CAM5.2, AE1/AE3, CK7, CK8, CK18, and CK20), epithelial membrane antigen, SRY (sex-determining region Y)-box 9, type II collagen, runt-related transcription factor 2, and osteocalcin in clear cell chondrosarcoma and compared them with those in chondroblastoma, conventional chondrosarcoma, and osteosarcoma. Of 5 cases of clear cell chondrosarcoma, 3 demonstrated positive staining for AE1/AE3 and some form of cytokeratin in the clear cell component. Of the 5 cases, 4 strongly expressed SRY (sex-determining region Y)-box 9 in the clear cell component but weakly expressed it in the cartilaginous component. Of the 5 cases of clear cell chondrosarcoma, 3 expressed runt-related transcription factor 2 in both the clear cell and cartilaginous components, but no expression of osteocalcin was detected. In chondroblastoma, 8 of 13 cases expressed AE1/AE3, and other cytokeratins, such as CK7 (4/13), CK8 (6/13), CK18 (8/13), and CK20 (3/13), demonstrated a similar staining extensity pattern between the cellular and cartilaginous components. Clear cell chondrosarcoma and chondroblastoma have similar immunohistochemical features in that they both express epithelial and chondrogenetic markers. On the other hand, tumor cells of clear cell chondrosarcoma have no osteoblastic immunohistochemical expression in comparison with chondroblastoma.

Overexpression of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 is correlated with high histologic grade in conventional chondrosarcoma.

Low-grade chondrosarcoma and enchondroma are occasionally difficult to differentiate solely by reference to clinicoradiologic and histologic findings. The A disintegrin and metalloproteinases are a new gene family of proteins having a metalloprotease domain with matrix metalloproteinases and play an important role in the chondrocyte development process. Therefore, we analyzed the expression of A disintegrin and metalloproteinases and matrix metalloproteinases in several kinds of cartilaginous bone tumors at the messenger RNA level and immunohistochemical protein level and ascertained their relationships to the histologic degree of malignancy. Reverse transciptase-polymerase chain reaction and real-time quantitative reverse transciptase-polymerase chain reaction of the expression of the A disintegrin and metalloproteinase family in cartilaginous bone tumors demonstrated that A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 messenger RNA levels in grade I chondrosarcoma were significantly higher than those in enchondroma (P = .009). Moreover, positive immunoreactivity of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 was observed in 12 (59%) of 22 patients with grade I chondrosarcoma and in 21 (91%) of 23 patients with grade II chondrosarcoma, respectively. In contrast, only 2 (9%) of 21 cases of enchondromas demonstrated positive staining for A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28. On the other hand, the immunohistochemical expressions of matrix metalloproteinase 9 and matrix metalloproteinase 13 were significantly higher in enchondromas than in normal cartilage tissue; however, there is no statistically different expression between enchondromas and grade I chondrosarcomas. We detected that overexpression of A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 28 was increased according to its histologic grade in conventional chondrosarcoma and could be one of the helpful tools in distinguishing between low-grade chondrosarcoma and enchondroma.

Chemokine receptor CXCR4 expression is correlated with VEGF expression and poor survival in soft-tissue sarcoma.

The expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 has been associated with poor prognosis and VEGF expression in several kinds of human malignancy. We measured CXCR4 expression levels in soft-tissue sarcoma and compared them with VEGF expression or microvessel density (MVD). We used real-time quantitative PCR to examine the CXCR4 and VEGF expression levels in a total 176 tumors, including 24 intermediate tumors, 24 malignant round-cell tumors (MRCTs) and 128 malignant non-round-cell tumors (MNRCTs). We also assessed their immunohistochemical expression of CXCR4 and VEGF, MVD and proliferative activities, as measured by the MIB-1-labeling index (LI). Furthermore, we evaluated their significance with respect to patient survival rates in MNRCTs, using the Cox regression model. Within the different types of tumor tissue, the expression levels of CXCR4 (p < 0.0001) and VEGF (p < 0.0001) in MNRCTs were significantly higher than those in intermediate tumors or MRCTs. Immunohistochemical expression levels of CXCR4 and VEGF were significantly correlated with their mRNA expression levels (p < 0.0001). Significant positive correlation was found between CXCR4 and VEGF expression in 112 primary MNRCTs (r = 0.434, p < 0.0001). Moreover, both univariate (p < 0.0001) and Cox multivariate analysis (p = 0.0001) revealed that overexpression of CXCR4 was an independent adverse prognostic factor, in addition to high stage according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer and a high MIB-1-LI. Determination of the CXCR4 expression level as a novel marker can provide useful prognostic information for patients and it could be a candidate for molecular targeting therapy in MNRCTs of soft-tissue sarcomas.

Metastasis to the gluteus maximus muscle from renal cell carcinoma with special emphasis on MRI features.

BACKGROUND: The skeletal muscle is an unusual site for metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Metastatic RCC must be differentiated from benign primary soft-tissue tumors because aggressive surgical resection is necessary. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 65-year-old man with metastatic RCC in the gluteus maximus muscle (3.8 cm in diameter) found on enhanced computed tomography (CT) 6 years after nephrectomy. Retrospectively, the small mass (1 cm in diameter) was overlooked 5 years earlier on enhanced CT. Because the growth of the lesion was slow, benign tumor was a differential diagnosis. However, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed that the mass had high-signal intensity on T1- and T2-weighted images (WIs) compared to that of skeletal muscle, with mild enhancement by Gadolinium. The MRI features were unusual for most soft-tissue tumors having low-signal intensity on T1-WI and high-signal intensity on T2-WI. Therefore, under a diagnosis of metastatic RCC, the lesion was resected together with the surrounding skeletal muscle. The histology was confirmed to be metastatic RCC. CONCLUSION: MRI features of metastatic RCC may be beneficial in differentiating it from primary soft-tissue tumor.