Prognostic significance of extranodal extension in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma with occult neck metastases.

A grade of extranodal extension (ENE) may advance risk stratification related to survival in patients with metastatic oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OCSCC). Pathological examination of 174 OCSCC patients who were primarily surgically treated with tumour resection and elective neck dissection was performed. Data of ENE presence, its extent (in millimetres), patients and tumour characteristics were statistically analysed with respect to disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Ninety patients (51.7%) were identified with occult nodal disease, with 41 patients (23.6%) presenting with ENE. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis set the threshold at 1.9 mm as an optimal ENE cut-off regarding both DFS and OS. Patients were divided by extent into minor ENE (≤1.9 mm) and major ENE (>1.9 mm) subgroups. The subgroup with minor ENE had significantly higher DFS and OS rates compared with major ENE. ENE cut-off threshold at 1.9 mm discriminates low and high-risk subgroups of patients with occult OCSCC in terms of DFS and OS.

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma-diagnostic criteria and therapeutic methods: case report and review of the literature.

Microcystic adnexal carcinoma (MAC) is a rare, infiltrating, locally aggressive cutaneous neoplasm of combined follicular and eccrine/apocrine histogenesis, usually presenting on the upper lip or face. Differentiation from other adnexal tumours is very important because the clinical management of these tumours is radically different, and misdiagnosis may lead to incorrect treatment. A case of recurrent MAC in the upper lip, treated with multiple excisions and postoperative radiation therapy (PORT), is presented herein. There have been no signs or symptoms of recurrence since the subsequent reconstructive surgery and PORT. Based on reports in the literature it appears that although immunohistochemistry can be helpful in distinguishing between MAC and other adnexal tumours, careful histopathological examination is essential for an accurate diagnosis. Perineural and intramuscular invasion strongly suggest the diagnosis of MAC. Its predilection for the facial area often limits the width of surgical excision. In such cases, PORT may be considered.

First description of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) in wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Croatia and phylogenetic analysis of partial PCV2 sequences.

This report describes the first case of postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome (PMWS) in wild boar in Croatia. During the winter season of 2004, eight wild young piglets (of approximately 2 to 5 months of age) were found dead in a fenced hunting area. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out on mesenteric lymph nodes and all animals yielded positive results. In one of these animals diagnosis of PMWS was established based on the three key diagnostic criteria including the clinical manifestation, moderate lymphoid lesions consisting of lymphocyte depletion and granulomatous inflammation, and detection of the presence of PCV2 genome within the lymphoid lesions by in situ hybridisation (ISH). Three additional wild piglets had also mild PMWS-like lesions and a low amount of PCV2 was also found. No PMWS-like lesions or PCV2 genome were detected in the rest of the wild piglets studied. Three PCR-positive isolates were partially sequenced, which confirmed the diagnosis of PCV2 and demonstrated that the three sequences were genetically identical. The phylogenetic analysis of a representative PCV2 isolate indicated that its sequence (DQ875444) is grouped in a separate branch with Hungarian isolate (AY256460) and differs from any of the annotated sequences.

[Retroperitoneal tumors]. / Retroperitonealni tumori.

The authors have referred their fifteen-year-old experiences in the treatment of the pathologically proved retroperitoneum tumours, classified according to Patel. The number of the affected persons is a very small one-only seven patients out of 100,000 inhabitants during the fifteen years' period. At the very beginning, the clinical symptomatology in a very poor one, so that it is not easy to diagnose a tumour. An early diagnosis as well as a timely surgical treatment are very important in the illness prognosis. As to our practice, malignancies prevail (57%). All patients, by whom a tumour has been diagnosed, have undergone surgery, its span of time depending on the local analysis, tumour restricted area, infiltration into the neighbouring tissues and its adherentness to the neighbouring organs. The post-surgical mortality amounts to 28%. The surgical results among benignancies are satisfactory. The results among malignancies depend on the pathohistological structure and their prevalence. We can partially improve the prognosis, if, besides a partial resection of these malignancies, we can add a cytostatic resection and a radio-therapy.