Fibrolipoma with Osseous and Cartilaginous Metaplasia of Hoffa's Fat Pad: A Case Report.

The most common benign tumors of the mesenchyme are the lipomas. Benign fatty tumors can arise in any location in which fat is present. Fibrolipomas are characterised by fat modules. Most patients affected by such tumors are in the fifth or sixth decade of life. When very close to vital structures such as joints, they may cause functional limitations as well as pain. Osseous and chondroid metaplasia can infrequently manifest after chronic persistence. Given the rarity of this condition, a case of a big fibrolipoma of Hoffa's fat pad with osseous and cartilaginous metaplasia is reported. A 44-year-old woman presented with an enlarging soft mass on the right knee in the infrapatellar fat pad. After a thorough preoperative clinical and imaging examination, the mass was removed and sent to laboratory where the diagnosis was put. One year after surgery, both local and general condition of the patient were good and no signs of recurrence were found.

Abnormal location of papilla of Vater: a cadaveric study.

We report a case of a male cadaver aged 72 years with an ectopic location of the papilla of Vater. The ectopic papilla was situated at the supero-posterior border of the 3rd portion of the duodenum at a distance of 0.9 cm from the limit of the 2nd and 3rd portions of the duodenum. The frequency of this anomaly fluctuates between 0 and 11.83% and when the papilla is located distal to its usual position the usual location is in the proximal 2 cm of the 3rd part of the duodenum. We refer to the possible difference in the papilla's location between patients and cadavers and call attention to the differential diagnosis with spontaneous or surgical fistulae.

The persistence of the sciatic artery.

The persistent sciatic artery (PSA) is a rare anatomical variant where the internal iliac artery and the axial artery of the embryo provide the major supply of the lower limb, the superficial femoral artery being usually poorly developed or absent. We describe an extremely large right PSA in a 79-year-old male cadaver during a medical gross anatomy course, with simultaneous existence of a hypoplastic superficial and deep femoral artery. The PSA, which was a continuation of the anterior division of the right internal iliac artery, entered the buttock through the greater sciatic foramen situated in the gluteal region laterally to the sciatic nerve and in the mid thigh medially to the same nerve, becoming in the popliteal fossa the popliteal artery. Neither the superficial nor the deep femoral artery had communication with the popliteal artery. Because the PSA in our study was the only blood supply to the lower limb, we present the embryologic origins and the clinical anatomy of this artery.

Significant experimental decrease of the hepatocellular carcinoma incidence in C3H/Sy mice after long-term administration of EB1089, a vitamin D analogue.

EB1089, a vitamin D analogue without the acute side effects of 1alpha,25(OH)2D3, the physiologically active form of vitamin D, exerts strong antiproliferative activities in malignant cells, including hepatoma cells in vitro, and in experimental hepatomas in animals as well. It also induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in premalignant conditions, suggesting its application in chemopreventive trials. We examined the possible chemopreventive effect of EB1089 on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence in C3H/Sy virgin female mice, a strain developing an incidence of 58% spontaneous HCCs. A total of 95 mice, 16 weeks old, were used. EB1089 injections of 0.5 microg/kg of body weight were given IP every other day for 2, 4, and 6 months to 51 mice (18, 19, and 14 mice, respectively). The remaining 44 mice were divided into three control groups, accordingly, and injected with the vehicle solution only. The mice were sacrificed when they appeared moribund because of their disease. The rest were sacrificed at the age of at least 80 weeks. A full autopsy was performed and liver tissue was processed for histological examination. The results obtained show that 3.9% of treated mice developed HCC, exclusively in the 2-month group, compared with 36.4% of HCCs in the control group. Our results suggest that the chemopreventive administration of EB1089 causes a very statistically significant (P < 0.0001) inhibitory effect on HCC incidence of C3H/Sy mice. This effect could be useful in a potential application on the chemopreventive control of HCCs.