Clinicopathological prognostic factors of adult granulosa cell tumor of the ovary--a study of 37 cases.

Adult granulosa cell tumor (GCT) of the ovary is the most common malignancy amongst the sex cord stromal tumors. Clinical stage, age, tumor size, residual disease and several histologic factors have been reported to be of prognostic significance. There were 839 ovarian malignancies at our institute during the period from 1998 to 2002. Out of 54 granulosa cell tumors, 40 cases were evaluable which includes 37 cases of adult GCT and 3 cases of juvenile GCT. They were studied retrospectively. Majority of patients presented with abdominal symptoms and FIGO stage I. All patients were treated surgically and 62.1% of adult GCTs were given post-operative chemotherapy. Clinical stage, presence of residual disease and tumor volume were the most important prognostic factors. Age of patient, menstrual status, post-operative chemotherapy, mitosis or histological patterns were of little significance in our study.

Subcutaneous metastases of sarcomatoid mesothelioma with its differential diagnosis on fine needle aspiration--a case report.

Metastasis of mesothelioma of the pleura, to the skin and subcutis is an extremely rare occurrence. A 25 year old woman, who had undergone chemotherapy, partial excision of tumor followed by radiotherapy of sarcomatoid mesothelioma of the pleura, presented three months later with painless widespread subcutaneous nodules. FNAC of these nodules reveled pleomorphic malignant spindle shaped cell with epithelioid morphology. The subcutis is a particularly rare site of metastatic sarcomatoid mesothelioma. It is essential to differentiate neoplasm metastatic to the skin and subcutis from primary and benign lesions of the same region. FNAC is accurate and efficient, in conjugation with clinical history, and it also prevents surgical biopsy in the diagnosis of metastatic subcutaneous lesion. To our knowledge, this is the first case, reported till date, in which the sarcomatoid mesothelioma metastasized to the subcutaneous tissue and was diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC).

Fine needle aspiration cytology of hepatoblastoma: a study of 20 cases.

Hepatoblastoma (HBL) is the most common primary malignant hepatic tumor in children. The aim of the present study is to describe cytological findings of HBL, to subclassify it, and to discuss differential diagnoses. Twenty cases were taken from records of Cytopathology department, Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, Ahmedabad. The aspiration smears were stained with Papanicolaou stain andlor Giemsa stain. Cytological and architectural criteria were applied to aspiration smears. Fifteen cases (75%) of HBL were diagnosed in the patients below the age of two years. The commonest presentation was found to be lump in abdomen. On the basis of cytoarchitectural features, HBL was classified in two groups undifferentiated and differentiated. Morphologically, the tumor cells were commonly arranged in acinar pattern, papillary pattern, or in sheets. FNA cytology alone had some limitations in the diagnosis of HBL. Hence, cytoarchitecture in combination with clinicalfeatures, imaging techniques and serum a-fetoprotein levels were helpful for specific diagnosis of HBL and to rule out various others differential diagnosis of small round cell tumor. The cytological differential diagnosis between differentiated HBL and Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was found to be very difficult.

Role of mitotic counts in the grading and prognosis of the breast cancer.

100 Cases of invasive breast cancer were studied for Tumor type, Tumor site, Nodal Status, Mitotic counts, Nuclear pleomorphism, Tubule formation and Nottingham modification of Bloom Richardson Grading. The follow up of the 82 patients treated with surgery and adjuvant treatment was available. Mitotic activity index (MAI) counted with strict criteria of elston CW, emerged as one of the most significant prognostic parameter followed by overall grade in predicting Tumor free survival (TFS) for the patients. Mitotic count also correlated well with overall Grade and lymph node status in predicting the TFS. This parameter is very useful where advanced studies like flowcytometry and immunohistochemical studies of the cell proliferation marker are not available.

Neutralization of human papillomavirus (HPV) pseudovirions: a novel and efficient approach to detect and characterize HPV neutralizing antibodies.

The development of vaccines against human papillomaviruses (HPVs) has long been hampered by the inability to grow HPVs in tissue culture and the lack of an efficient neutralization assay. To date, less than 10% of more than 100 different HPV types can be grown in athymic and "SCID" mouse xenograft systems or raft culture systems. Recently, the in vitro generation of HPV pseudovirions and their use in neutralization assays were demonstrated. The major shortcomings of the current approaches to HPV neutralization are the lack of HPV virions for most types for the xenograft methods and the time-consuming and inefficient generation of infective pseudovirions for the latter methods, which precludes their use in large-scale HPV clinical trials or epidemiological studies. We describe here a novel and efficient approach to generating pseudovirions in which HPV virus-like particles (VLPs) are coupled to the beta-lactamase gene as a reporter. We show that it is not necessary to encapsidate the reporter gene constructs into the pseudovirions. Using sera from human volunteers immunized with HPV-11 VLPs expressed in yeast, we demonstrate that our novel neutralization assay compares favorably with the athymic mouse neutralization assay. Furthermore, our assay was used to define neutralizing monoclonal antibodies to HPV-6, which were previously unknown.

L-->R shunt: a serious consequence of TAPVC repair without ligation of vertical vein.

It has been suggested that concomitant ligation of the vertical vein (VV) is not necessary in the repair of total anomalous pulmonary venous connection. The patency of the VV is desirable in the presence of noncompliant left heart chambers that may not be able to accommodate acute increases in pulmonary blood flow, leading to hemodynamic instability after repair. Complete cessation of flow through the previously patent VV has been observed, obviating the need for a second-stage operation. We report 2 infants who were operated using this strategy, in which the VV continued to function as a conduit for a significant left to right shunt.

Rapid onset of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations after cavopulmonary anastomosis.

The reported incidence of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations after superior cavopulmonary anastamosis in patients with heterotaxia syndrome is 18%-21%. The manifestation is usually in young children and the onset is gradual. We report an unusual case of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations developing within 72 hours of bilateral superior cavopulmonary anastamosis (Kawashima procedure) in an adolescent with heterotaxia syndrome.

Comparison of left and right atrial epicardial pacing in patients with congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Complex congenital heart disease (CHD) often necessitates the use of epicardial pacing. Adequate right atrial (RA) sensing and pacing thresholds are often difficult to obtain due to suture line scarring and RA dilatation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the placement of left atrial (LA) epicardial leads in children. METHODS: Patient demographics, pacing, and sensing data of atrial pacing systems implanted between January 1994 and January 1997 were collected. RESULTS: Forty-nine pacing systems were implanted: 14 LA epicardial, 19 RA epicardial, and 16 transvenous in the right atrium. Lead impedance, current, and energy were similar in the two epicardial groups throughout the study. Energy thresholds (ET) were lower in the LA than RA at 6 months, and 1 and 2 years (p < 0.05). Analysis of post-Fontan patients performed alone revealed a lower ET in the LA as compared with the RA. Pacing and sensing parameters from transvenous leads are presented for relative comparison. CONCLUSIONS: Transvenous leads are most efficient but often contraindicated in complex CHD. LA leads offer lower energy thresholds than RA leads with similar sensing parameters.

Pulmonary AV malformations after superior cavopulmonary connection: resolution after inclusion of hepatic veins in the pulmonary circulation.

BACKGROUND: A high incidence of pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) has been reported in patients who have polysplenia and congenital heart disease after superior cavopulmonary anastomosis. Interruption of hepatic venous return to the pulmonary circulation is believed to potentiate the development of PAVMs. Surgical inclusion of hepatic flow in the pulmonary circulation may result in their resolution. METHODS: We reviewed 3 patients with congenital heart disease and polysplenia in whom PAVMs developed and who had subsequent hepatic vein inclusion in the pulmonary circulation. RESULTS: Patients underwent superior cavopulmonary connection at a median age of 8 months. The PAVMs were diagnosed at a median duration of 8 months after operation (arterial saturation <75% in room air). Hepatic venous flow was included in the pulmonary circulation at operation. Resolution of PAVMs occurred at a median duration of 7 months after operation (arterial saturation >90% in room air). CONCLUSIONS: Surgical inclusion of hepatic venous blood in the pulmonary circulation results in the resolution of PAVMs. Electively associating the hepatic veins with the pulmonary vasculature may prevent the development of PAVMs in patients who are at risk.

Correlation of bacterial mutagenicity and hamster cell transformation with tumorigenicity induced by 2,4-toluenediamine.

In the presence of rat liver microsome enzymes, 2,4-toluenediamine (TDA) was mutagenic for several tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. TDA induced morphological transformation in an in vitro carcinogenesis system using secondary culture target cells prepared from cryopreserved primary Syrian hamster embryo cells. These results now correlate bacterial mutagenicity and in vitro morphological transformation with the reported tumorigenicity of this compound.