All-Body-Cavity (ABC)-scopy-An approach for a feasible method of minimally invasive autopsy to allow for postmortem tissue sampling in cases where a conventional autopsy is denied.

OBJECTIVES: The decreasing autopsy numbers in many western countries have been partially attributed to the invasiveness of the autopsy, which causes relatives to decline postmortem examination. This issue has been addressed by developing methods of minimally or non-invasive autopsy, which could be shown to increase acceptance for autopsies. The aim of this study is to compare the All-Body-Cavity-scopy (ABC-scopy) to conventional autopsies for diagnostic accuracy. METHODS: The ABC-scopy is an endoscopic approach for minimally invasive autopsy involving laparoscopic and thoracoscopic evaluation of the accessible organs, followed by excision biopsies of relevant organs and conspicuous findings. The method was performed in 10 cases on deceased patients scheduled for autopsy, each followed by a conventional autopsy. RESULTS: The results gathered from ABC-scopy through observation and histopathological evaluation provided an acceptable diagnostic accuracy in 9 out of 10 autopsies when compared to those of the conventional autopsy for diagnostic findings. CONCLUSIONS: The ABC-scopy is a feasible approach for minimally invasive autopsy that provides acceptable diagnostic value. Despite its minimally invasive nature, the procedure enables representative histology through providing large size excision biopsies from intraabdominal and thoracic organs, which is especially useful for examining disseminated diseases such as metastasized tumors.

A small subgroup of Hashimoto's thyroiditis is associated with IgG4-related disease.

IgG4-related disease is a newly identified syndrome characterized by high serum IgG4 levels and increased IgG4-positive plasma cells in involved organs. The incidence of IgG4-related thyroiditis in the Caucasian population of Europe is unknown. We investigated formalin-fixed thyroid gland samples of 216 patients (191 Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 5 Riedel's thyroiditis, and 20 goiters, as controls), morphologically, and immunohistochemically. Cases were divided into two groups: IgG4-related Hashimoto's thyroiditis (24 cases) together with Riedel thyroiditis (1 case) and 171 non-IgG4-related thyroiditis. Compared to the non-IgG4-related cases, IgG4-related thyroiditis showed a higher IgG4/IgG ratio (0.6 vs. 0.1, p < 0.0001), a higher median IgG4 count (45.2 vs. 6.2, p < 0.0001), an association with younger age (42.1 vs. 48.1 years, p = 0.036), and a lower female-to-male ratio (11:1 vs. 17.5:1). Fibrous variant of Hashimoto's thyroiditis was diagnosed in 23 of the 24 IgG4-related cases (96 %) and in 13 of 167 (18 %, p > 0.001) non-IgG4-related cases. The single case of IgG4-related Riedel's thyroiditis also showed a higher median IgG4 plasma cell count (56.3 vs. 14.3) and a higher IgG4/IgG ratio (0.5 vs. 0.2) than the four cases of non-IgG4-related Riedel's thyroiditis. Our data suggests the incidence of IgG4-related disease (IgG4-RD) of the thyroid gland in Europe is considerably lower than that observed in other studies. A significant elevation of IgG4-positive plasma cells was only found in a small group of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and then accompanied by intense fibrosis, indicating an association with IgG4-RD. Morphologically, IgG4-RD of the thyroid gland differs from that in other organ systems, exhibiting a dense fibrosis without intense eosinophilia or obliterative phlebitis.

(68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT for Imaging of Chemokine Receptor 4 Expression in Glioblastoma.

Chemokine receptor-4 (CXCR4) has been reported to be overexpressed in glioblastoma (GBM) and to be associated with poor survival. This study investigated the feasibility of non-invasive CXCR4-directed imaging with positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) using the radiolabelled chemokine receptor ligand (68)Ga-Pentixafor. 15 patients with clinical suspicion on primary or recurrent glioblastoma (13 primary, 2 recurrent tumors) underwent (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT for assessment of CXCR4 expression prior to surgery. O-(2-(18)F-fluoroethyl)-L-tyrosine ((18)F-FET) PET/CT images were available in 11/15 cases and were compared visually and semi-quantitatively (SUVmax, SUVmean). Tumor-to-background ratios (TBR) were calculated for both PET probes. (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT results were also compared to histological CXCR4 expression on neuronavigated surgical samples. (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT was visually positive in 13/15 cases with SUVmean and SUVmax of 3.0±1.5 and 3.9±2.0 respectively. Respective values for (18)F-FET were 4.4±2.0 (SUVmean) and 5.3±2.3 (SUVmax). TBR for SUVmean and SUVmax were higher for (68)Ga-Pentixafor than for (18)F-FET (SUVmean 154.0±90.7 vs. 4.1±1.3; SUVmax 70.3±44.0 and 3.8±1.2, p<0.01), respectively. Histological analysis confirmed CXCR4 expression in tumor areas with high (68)Ga-Pentixafor uptake; regions of the same tumor without apparent (68)Ga-Pentixafor uptake showed no or low receptor expression. In this pilot study, (68)Ga-Pentixafor retention has been observed in the vast majority of glioblastoma lesions and served as readout for non-invasive determination of CXCR4 expression. Given the paramount importance of the CXCR4/SDF-1 axis in tumor biology, (68)Ga-Pentixafor-PET/CT might prove a useful tool for sensitive, non-invasive in-vivo quantification of CXCR4 as well as selection of patients who might benefit from CXCR4-directed therapy.