Does FK506 reduce the size of the watershed area after vascular injury of the sciatic nerve?

AIM: FK506 (also known Tacrolimus, Prograf) is an immunosuppressant drug which is used to prevent rejection after organ transplantation. Although there are several studies on neuroprotective effect of FK506 on brain ischemia, few reports on effects of FK506 after peripheral nerve ischemia have been reported. In the present study, we examined the size of watershed area after stripping of the epineurial vessels and studied the effect of FK506 on reduction of the size of watershed area. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight adult female rats were used and randomly divided into four groups as control, sham, FK506-treated and vehicle-treated. In FK506-treated and vehicle-treated groups epineurial vessels around the sciatic nerve (vasa nervorum) were stripped. Additionally, FK506-treated group were received subcutaneous injection of 5 mg/kg FK506. Percent of watershed area (100 × total watershed areas / total nerve area) after stripping and FK506 treatment was calculated. RESULTS: We found no significant difference in comparison of the total size of watershed areas in FK506 and vehicle-treated groups or even the percent of the watershed area in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: We think that this study will be helpful to understand neuroprotective effect of FK506 and will give an insight into sparing of the nerve fibers from vascular injuries of the peripheral nerve.

Multilevel primary intraspinal PNETs in an infant associated with hydrocephalus.

PNETs of the spinal cord are aggressive and local recurrence and/or leptomeningeal spread is common. Primary spinal PNETs are extremely rare and most cases involving the spinal cord are drop metastases from primary intracranial tumors by cerebrospinal fluid. Herewith, we present a 40-day-old infant with multilevel primary spinal PNET at Th12-L1 and L5-S1 levels associated with hydrocephalus occurring nearly 15 days after the operation. According to our knowledge this is probably the first case harboring all these pathologies. Multilevel primary intraspinal PNET in an infant is even rarer and can be associated with hydrocephalus that occurs during the postoperative period.

Intra-operative brain tumor detection using elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy: a feasibility study.

We have investigated the potential application of elastic light single-scattering spectroscopy (ELSSS) as an adjunctive tool for intraoperative rapid detection of brain tumors and demarcation of the tumor from the surrounding normal tissue. Measurements were performed on 29 excised tumor specimens from 29 patients. There were 21 instances of low-grade tumors and eight instances of high-grade tumors. Normal gray matter and white matter brain tissue specimens of four epilepsy patients were used as a control group. One low-grade and one high-grade tumor were misclassified as normal brain tissue. Of the low- and high-grade tumors, 20 out of 21 and 7 out of 8 were correctly classified by the ELSSS system, respectively. One normal white matter tissue margin was detected in a high-grade tumor, and three normal tissue margins were detected in three low-grade tumors using spectroscopic data analysis and confirmed by histopathology. The spectral slopes were shown to be positive for normal white matter brain tissue and negative for normal gray matter and tumor tissues. Our results indicate that signs of spectral slopes may enable the discrimination of brain tumors from surrounding normal white matter brain tissue with a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 100%.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver: a case report.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver is an uncommon lesion of uncertain pathogenesis that has a unique histological appearance. Symptomatology and clinical findings in most cases suggest malignancy, and despite the advances in imaging techniques, the preoperative diagnosis of this tumor is difficult. We describe herein a case of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver with a review of the literature. A mass occupying the right lobe of the liver was excised in a 48-year-old woman, who previously presented with weakness, fever, progressive weight loss, and right upper abdominal pain. The lesion was an unencapsulated light brown tumor (largest diameter 6 cm) without necrosis or hemorrhage. The characteristic histopathological features and the presence of spindle cells expressing smooth muscle actin and anaplastic lymphoma kinase allowed the diagnosis of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. The present case and the review revealed that inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver is not limited to younger age groups and males. Moreover, the rare occurrence of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of the liver and the lack of diagnostic clinical signs and symptoms do not exclude consideration of inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor in the differential diagnosis of liver tumors, especially in patients with tumor markers in normal ranges.

Thrombospondin-1 expression correlates with angiogenesis in experimental cirrhosis.

AIM: To investigate the significance of Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) expression and its relationship with angiogenesis during experimental fibrosis. METHODS: Cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal administration of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN). The serial sections from liver tissues were stained with anti-CD34 and anti-TSP-1 antibodies before being quantitated by light microscopy. RESULTS: Our results showed that of TSP-1 expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis (P < 0.05). Moreover, TSP-1 expression was found to be correlated with angiogenesis (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The correlative evidence of the link between TSP-1 and fibrosis or angiogenesis provided by this study suggests that besides its role as a strong promoter of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), TSP-1 might have an additional role in liver fibrogenesis by stimulating angiogenesis and this protein could be a potential target to prevent fibrogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.

A case of extraventricular neurocytoma of the spinal cord.

Central neurocytoma is a rare neuroectodermal tumor generally found in young adults. It mainly originates from lateral ventricles. Extraventricular location of this kind of tumor, especially spinal cord involvement, is extremely rare. This article is the ninth case of central neurocytoma derived from the spinal region, and includes a review of the literature. The patient in this case is a 49-year-old woman presenting with C3-C5 spinal mass with typical histopathologic findings and low MIB-1 index.

Primary atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor of the clival region. Case report.

An atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor of the central nervous system (CNS) is a rare, aggressive neoplasm found in infants and children that has similar characteristics to CNS primitive neuroectodermal tumors/medulloblastomas. The authors present the case of a patient with an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor and discuss the imaging, histopathological, immunohistochemical, and cytogenetic findings. Tumor cells displayed positive reactions for vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen, and cytokeratin, and they displayed no reaction for glial fibrillary acidic protein, desmin, and actin. The karyotype was 46, XY. The phenotype of an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor appears heterogeneous when examined by histological, immunohistochemical, and genetic analysis. The authors describe the case of a 4-year-old boy who harbored an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor in the clivus, which appeared as a chordoma on neuroimages. To their knowledge, this location of an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor has not been described in the literature.

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma derived from the spine region: case report and review of the literature.

Epithelioid hemangioendotheliomas (EHE) are rare vascular tumors which generally originate from soft tissues and visceral organs. Primary bone EHEs, especially those occurring in the spine region, are extremely rare. Our case is that of a 30-year-old man who was admitted to hospital with low back pain, difficulty in walking, post-voiding urinary incontinence and numbness in the caudal area. X-ray showed a lytic process affecting the vertebra L2 and collapse of L1. Vertebrectomy of L1 and gross total tumor resection were performed. Histopathological and immunohistochemical findings of the tumor tissue supported the diagnosis of EHE. The case, which to the best of our knowledge is only the fifth such reported case, is presented with its clinicopathological findings and a review of the literature.

Unilateral pulmonary agenesis associated with colloidal goiter in a newborn: a case report.

Unilateral pulmonary agenesis is a very rare developmental malformation that is often associated with other anomalies. It can be asymptomatic or present with respiratory symptoms. Our case is a female newborn infant who had been taken to the hospital suffering from difficulty in breathing at the first day of birth. The baby died at the age of three days due to respiratory failure. On autopsy examination and its histopathological evaluation, we detected right pulmonary agenesis and colloidal goiter. According to the literature, pulmonary agenesis is associated with other anomalies including esophageal atresia, tracheal stenosis, musculoskeletal anomalies, DiGeorge syndrome and cardiovascular malformations such as septal defects, patent ductus arteriosus and total anomalous pulmonary venous return. To our knowledge, this is the first case of pulmonary agenesis associated with colloidal goiter.