[Congenital choledochal cysts. Observations on 2 operated cases]. / Chisturile congenitale coledociene. Observatii în legatura cu doua cazuri operate.

The authors present two cases of congenital choledochal cysts treated by cyst excision with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy, followed by good postoperative results. One of the patients has been treated by early excisional procedure, while the other has initially undergone an enteric drainage by cystoduodenostomy, followed by complications, which required reoperations after 18 months. We have evaluated the peculiarities of both cases, the present data revealed by literature regarding biliary carcinogenesis related to congenital choledochal cysts, their classification according to pancreatobiliary malunion, as well as the treatment of choice in choledochal cysts, meaning excisional procedure with Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy to prevent the risk of postoperatory complications which might appear after plain enteric drainage of the cyst.

Morphometric investigations on bone giant cell tumors.

The authors have studied 12 cases of bone giant cell tumors and have shown that the increase in aggressiveness is accompanied by higher values of mitotic activity and nuclear features (area, perimeter, long and short axes), which might be useful for grading the bone giant cell tumors.

Study on the nucleolar organiser regions in soft tissue liposarcoma.

The authors studied 24 cases of liposarcoma of soft tissue included in two categories: myxoid liposarcoma and pleomorphic liposarcoma. The 24 tumors were stained by Ploton's method for revealing the nucleolar organiser regions (AgNORs). AgNORs were counted in the nuclei of 100 cells/case. AgNORs in the cells of some cases showed hyperchromasia and an increased size. The results suggest a role of AgNORs as a possible prognostic discriminator of different histological types.

Quantification of Grimelius reaction in neuroendocrine tumors of the lung.

The authors have studied the percent area occupied by the Grimelius-positive cells in lung neuroendocrine tumors. The highest values were noted in typical carcinoid tumors: they decreased progressively in atypical carcinoids, small "oat cell" carcinoma and large cell carcinoma. There was, however, a large dispersion of values, especially in the groups of typical and atypical carcinoid tumors. The possible significance of these data in the diagnosis, evaluation of therapeutical results and prognosis is discussed.

Morphometric study of cell populations in primary breast tumors and their lymph node metastases.

The study of nuclear parameters (long and short nuclear axes, nuclear axes ratio, nuclear area) revealed differences both between the primary breast tumors and their lymph node metastases and between the lymph nodes isolated from the same axilla. The results are discussed in terms of tumor progression.

Mixed folliculo-papillary and squamous cell variant of medullary thyroid carcinoma.

A case of thyroid carcinoma with a triple medullary, folliculo-papillary and squamous differentiation is reported. Lymph node metastatic deposits showed folliculo-papillary and squamous cell areas. The problems of histogenesis are discussed.

Composite endocrine cell, typical adenocarcinoma and signet ring carcinoma of the gallbladder.

The authors report a case of composite tumor of the gallbladder which exhibited features of both adenocarcinoma (with typical areas, signet ring cells and clear cells) and endocrine cell carcinoma. The histological picture suggests the origin of both components in a common primitive cell with the capacity to differentiate to different types of metaplastic epithelium and supports the hypothesis of a sequence metaplasia--dysplasia--carcinoma.

Automated estimation of nuclear volume in brain tumors.

The comparative study of the percentage nuclear area in brain tumors by the point-counting technique and digital analysis showed a good correlation between the results obtained. The investigation suggests the possibility of using the volume corrected mitotic index to tumors with uniformly distributed cells.

Morphometric grading of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas.

The authors have used the point counting method for the morphometric assessment of the histological aspect of laryngeal carcinoma. The results suggest that subjective histopathological grading tends to overestimate the tumor grade. The implications of these data for the prediction of prognosis and selection of therapy are briefly discussed.

Gastric Burkitt's lymphoma. Case report and review of the literature.

A case of gastric Burkitt's lymphoma with pancreatic infiltration in a 15-year-old boy is reported. Local lymph nodes were not involved. Review of the literature disclosed that the reported cases of Burkitt's lymphoma were localized in the intestine. The origin, evolution and prognosis of gastrointestinal lymphoma are briefly discussed.

DNA nuclear content of apocrine cells in fibrocystic mastopathy and breast cancer.

The DNA nuclear content of apocrine cells was studied in 5 cases of fibrocystic disease, 3 cases of invasive duct carcinoma and 3 cases of invasive lobular carcinoma. Both diploid and aneuploid values were found in each group. The possible significance of apocrine change in breast lesions is discussed.

Myxoid malignant melanoma. Report of three cases and review of the literature.

Three cases of malignant myxoid melanomas are described. That feature may simulate other malignant tumors with myxoid changes, especially in amelanotic metastases. The problems of differential diagnosis are briefly discussed.

Cytophotometric study of DNA content of cells in type III cervical smears.

Cytophotometric study of suspicious (group III of the Papanicolaou's classification) smears shows the heterogeneity of this group, which includes cases with diploid--tetraploid DNA modes, cases with a wide distribution of DNA values and aneuploid cases. The significance of these findings in relation with the biological properties of cells is briefly discussed.

Relationship between structural and ionic changes in cardiosclerosis.

The parallelism between hypoxic changes in the myocardium revealed by Lie's technique and by fluorescence microscopy and the ionic changes (Na+, K+, Ca2+) was studied in 51 autopsy cases. The Lie technique was positive in 52.6 per cent of the cases of cardiosclerosis with myocardial infarction and in 15 per cent of the cases of cardiosclerosis without infarction, while fluorescent areas were found in all cases of infarction and in 35 per cent of cardiosclerosis cases without infarction. Na+ and K+ were decreased and Ca2+ ions were increased in both ventricles and in both sexes, both in infarctions and in cardiosclerosis cases without infarction. Ionic changes are more probably related to the intensity of cardiosclerosis rather than to age or sex.

Value of quantitative cytologic studies in the grading of papillary tumors of human urinary bladder.

Mitotic indices and nuclear volumes were determined in 10 papillomas, 20 grade I, 20 grade II and 20 grade III papillary carcinomas of the urinary bladder. The mean mitotic indices were 1.22% in papillomas, 2.77% in grade I carcinomas, 8.2% in grade II carcinomas and 15.25% in grade III carcinomas. The nuclear volumes showed a gradual shift to larger values paralleling the histological degree. It is suggested that these objective parameters might be especially useful for the cytological assessment of exfoliated tumor cells.