[Solitary fibrous tumor in choroid: a clinicopathologic analysis of two cases].

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is an uncommon spindle cell tumor that occurs mainly in the pleura, but also in other parts of the body. Intraocular SFT is very rare. This paper reports 2 cases of choroidal SFT which were diagnosed by clinical, imaging, histopathological and immunohistochemical staining. The patient remained asymptomatic with no sign of recurrence and metastasis after operation.

[The clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of ocular Kimura disease and epithelioid hemangioma].

Objective: To investigate the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of ocular Kimura disease (KD) and epithelioid hemangioma. Methods: It was a retrospective case series study. The data of 10 patients with ocular KD and 3 patients with ocular epithelioid hemangioma from the Pathology Department of Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University from January 2010 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including clinical manifestations, morphology and immunophenotypes. Results: Among patients with ocular KD, there were 9 males and 1 female with an age from 7 to 75 years (mean, 30 years). There were 6 unilateral cases and 4 bilateral cases. The disease mainly involved the orbit in 3 patients, the lacrimal gland in 5 patients and the eyelid in 2 patients. The ophthalmic presentation included a palpable periorbital or eyelid mass with eyelid swelling and ptosis, proptosis and displacement of the eyeball, and ocular dysmotility. Three patients had a history of lymphadenopathy. The disease course ranged from 6 months to 7 years (mean, 34 months). All the patients had elevated peripheral blood eosinophilia. Three patients of ocular epithelioid hemangioma were all males with age from 25 to 60 years old. They were all unilateral cases with 1 right eye and 2 left eyes. The disease respectively involved eyelid and orbit, the eyebrow skin and the inner canthus skin. They presented with eyelid swelling, orbital mass or subcutaneous nodule for 5 months to 2 years. All patients (11 eyes) with KD underwent incisional or excisional biopsy. The histopathology revealed follicular hyperplasia of lymphoid tissue with active germinal centers in orbital fibroadipose tissue. There were massive interfollicular eosinophils with eosinophilic microabscesses. Some swelling endothelial cells of proliferating vessels were seen. All the 3 patients (3 eyes) with ocular epithelioid hemangioma underwent excision of the lesions. Histopathological examination showed proliferation of small and medium blood vessels. The vessels were lined by endothelial cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm which protruded into the lumen. The endothelial cells were positive for CD31, factor Ⅷ-related antigen and E26 transformation-specific related gene immunohistochemically. There was a moderate amount of lymphocytes, plasma cells and eosinophils surrounding blood vessels without eosinophilic microabscess. Conclusions: Both ocular KD and epithelioid hemangioma are more commonly seen in males and share the common histopathological features of vascular proliferation, swelling endothelial cells and eosinophilic infiltration. KD is an allergic benign lymphoid tissue proliferation characteristic of massive eosinophilic infiltration, whereas epithelioid hemangioma is a benign neoplasm of blood vessels with plump and epithelioid endothelial cells. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 689-695).

[Apoptosis and expression of Caspase 3 and Caspase 4 in neurocytes of refractory human temporal lobe epilepsy].

OBJECTIVE: To study apoptosis and expression of Caspase 3 and Caspase 4 in temporal lobe neurocytes of refractory human temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). METHODS: The temporal tissue samples were obtained from 30 cases of refractory TLE (TLE group) and 10 cases of brain trauma (contrast group) between January 1993 and May 2008. The surgical specimens were paraffin-embedded samples from Department of Pathology of Fujian Medical University and Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University. S-P staining of immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of Caspase 3 and Caspase 4 in temporal lobe neurocytes of TLE group and contrast group. Their expression was then analyzed. The terminal deoxynucleoitidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining was performed to visualize and analyze the neurocytes' apoptosis of two groups. RESULTS: The expression of Caspase 3 and Caspase 4 in neurocytes of TLE group were both higher than that of contrast group (t=12.905, P<0.01; t=11.880, P<0.01). The apoptotic index (AI) of neurocytes in TLE group also increased than that of contrast group (t=9.664, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Caspase 3 and Caspase 4 may mediate neurocytes apoptosis in temporal lobe tissue of refractory human TLE.

Surgery for paediatric thoracic outlet syndrome.

The effectiveness of operative treatment of paediatric thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) has been analysed, and an attempt made to improve the definition of the condition in terms of presentation, aetiology and diagnosis. A retrospective review of postoperative pain, functional capability and overall outcome was carried out on 13 patients (<18 years) treated by a single surgeon. In 20 operations, 17 were scalenotomies, and three were transaxillary rib resections (TARRs). Follow-up was 6-96 months post-operatively. Surgery alleviated many TOS symptoms, especially vascular compromise, although pain resolution was inconsistent and that of motor deficit poor. Mean functional improvement was good, and overall operative outcomes excellent. Therefore, surgery was successful for paediatric TOS in this series. Anatomical anomalies and sport participation may be related to early onset of TOS in many paediatric patients.

Studies on insulin/IGF-1 hybrid and IGF-1 growth-promoting functional region.

Single-chain insulin/IGF-1 hybrid-[Ins/IGF-1(C)], single-chain porcine insulin precursor-(PIP), and B10Asp PIP were prepared by protein engineering. Their growth-promoting activities in mouse breast cancer cell line GR2H6 are 10, 0.2, and 2 times that of insulin, respectively, and 29%, 0.6%, and 6% of that of IGF-1, indicating that the C domain and 9Glu of IGF-1 are important for its growth-promoting activity. Given these results and previous reports, we propose that the C domain, 9Glu, and 23Phe-26Asn beta bend are involved in the growth-promoting functional region of IGF-1.

Recombinant A17 Lys human insulin: purification and characterization.

Recombinant A17 Lys human insulin precursor expressed in yeast cells was isolated from the culture medium. After purification, the precursor was converted into A17 Lys human insulin. A17 Lys human insulin can be crystallized but has much lower receptor-binding and biological activities than porcine or human insulin where A17 is Glu. It is proposed that the A17 Glu residue may be involved in the receptor-binding or the active site of human insulin.