Preliminary study of some of the main intratumor stroma components in gastric carcinomas.

AIM: The relationship between stromal compartment and tumor behavior in gastric carcinomas is still poorly understood and defined. Therefore, the authors started, with this preliminary study, an analysis of stromal compartment morphology and behavior in tumors arising from gastric mucosa epithelium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group included 75 patients operated for gastric carcinoma. Five parameters describing tumor morphology and behavior and eight parameters describing tumor stroma (TS) morphology were assessed. Histopathological examination included six serial sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue samples, stained with three classical stains and three antibodies to reveal the different parameters. For data comparison, Pearson's correlation test and the chi-squared (χ²) correlation test were used. RESULTS: Studied tumors were, usually, infiltrating, undifferentiated∕diffuse type, invasive in subserous spaces and with a Ki67 index higher than 20%. Collagen fibers dominated the stromal components, with a predominance of mature type and an average fibrillary index of 2.7. The whole amount of stromal components accounted for around one quarter of the tumor area. Mature collagen fibers were in opposite correlation with their immature counterpart, and both were in opposite correlation with smooth muscle fibers and expressed an opposite trend of correlation with components of vascular compartment. The whole amount of stromal components had divergent behavior with the components of vascular compartment. The latter expressed generally an opposite trend of correlation with individual fibrillary stromal components. We found only isolated relationships statistically significant between stromal components and tumor characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: TS is in a continuous remodeling process in relation to the evolution of tumor parenchyma, tumors less differentiated proving to have an immature stroma, with newly formed collagen fibers and higher vascular density. Further studies are required.

Assessment of the aortic tunica media histological changes in relation with the cause of death.

AIM: The authors set out to evaluate the correlations between three of the main morphological aortic parameters (elastic fibers - FE, collagen fibers - FCOL, and smooth muscle fibers - FM) and the cause of death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study groups included 25 cases died of a vascular disease (V_P), 37 cases died of a non-vascular disease (NV_P) and 28 cases died of a violent/suspect non-pathological cause of death (V_Dth), the latter group representing also the control group. Four aortic cross-sections (base, arch, thoracic, and abdominal regions) were collected during autopsy from the selected cases, fixed in 10% buffered formalin and first of all photographed together with a calibrating ruler. Then, they were embedded in paraffin, sectioned off at 4 µm and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) and Orcein. The obtained histological slides were transformed into virtual slides. Fibrillary components amounts were using a custom-made software, developed in MATLAB (MathWorks, USA). Statistical tools used were Pearson's correlation test, t-test (two-sample assuming equal variances) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: The amounts of the three fibrillary components of the aortic tunica media had a synchronous variation in all aortic regions in each of the three groups, excepting FCOL in the group of patients died from vascular pathology, which presented only a trend of synchronous variation along the aorta. FE had their lowest values and FCOL had their highest values in patients died from vascular pathology. FCOL had always higher levels than FE in people died from any pathological condition, vascular or non-vascular. FM had always at least two times lower level than that of the other types of fibers, regardless of whether the person died due to a pathological condition or not. CONCLUSIONS: The different pathological conditions causing death are influencing the fibrillary composition of aortic tunica media. Further studies are required to reveal other changes in the morphology of aortic wall in particular and vascular wall in general that could be related with different pathological conditions affecting the entire organism.

Remodeling of the aortic wall layers with ageing.

AIM: The authors aimed to evaluate the correlations between the variation of two of the main morphological parameters of the aortic wall (intima and media thicknesses) and ageing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aortic cross sections (base region, cross region, thoracic region, and abdominal region) were collected from 90 cases of all ages died and autopsied in the hospital. Tissue samples were processed using the classical histopathological technique (formalin fixation and paraffin embedding) and stained with Orcein and Goldner's trichrome. The obtained histological slides were transformed into virtual slides. Intima and media thicknesses were determined on virtual slides using a custom-made software, developed in MATLAB (MathWorks, USA). RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: The intima layer underwent an obvious and continuous process of thickening both from the aortic base region to its terminal (abdominal) region and from young ages to old age. The processes were similar in men and women but almost always more pronounced in men than in women. The media layer underwent a thickness reduction process from the aortic base to the terminal (abdominal) region whereas with age, the thickness of the layer increased. This divergent profile of evolution was similar in both men and women but with some variations depending on either topography or ageing. CONCLUSIONS: Each of the main layers of the aortic wall revealed dynamic individual evolutionary profiles related to age, gender and topography along the aortic path. Studies must be continued in a more detailed, standardized and integrated way.

Anatomical remodeling of the aortic wall in relation with the cause of death.

AIM: The authors set out to evaluate the correlations between three of the main morphological aortic parameters (aortic diameter, intima, and media thickness) and the cause of death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study group included 28 people died of a cardiovascular (CV) disease and 62 people died of a noncardiovascular (NCV) disease. Four aortic cross-sections (base, cross, thoracic, abdominal) were collected during autopsy from the selected cases, fixed in 10% buffered formalin and photographed together with a calibrating ruler. Then, they were processed using the classical histopathological (HP) technique (formalin fixation and paraffin embedding), stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) and Orcein, and the obtained histological slides were transformed into virtual slides. Aortic diameters were determined on calibrated photos using a custom-made software, developed in MATLAB (MathWorks, USA). Intima and media thicknesses were determined on virtual slides using a dedicated image analysis software. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: The most frequent CV causes of death were the ischemic heart diseases and the most frequent NCV causes of death were the inflammatory diseases. Aortic diameter decreased from the aortic origin till the aortic end, with larger values in women than in men and in CV diseases than in NCV diseases. The difference in the remodeling of the aortic diameter between the two groups is smaller towards the abdominal region. Intima thickness increased from the aortic origin till the aortic end and was larger especially in women died of CV diseases, whereas in men there were some shifts at the extremities of the aorta. The difference in the remodeling of the intimal thickness between the two groups is extremely variable. Media was thicker in almost all of its segments in CV group than in NCV. It was a divergent evolution of the correlation degree trends in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The three morphological parameters of the aorta (diameter, intima, and media thicknesses) are more or less influenced by the pathological status that caused patient's death by the patient's sex and by the topographic region where the measurement was made.

Assessment of the aortic wall histological changes with ageing.

AIM: The authors aimed to quantitatively assess the variation with age of three of the main components of the aortic wall, namely elastic fibers (FE) and collagen fibers [FC(COL)], and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four aortic cross sections (base, cross, thoracic, abdominal) were collected during autopsy from 90 cases of all ages, processed using the classical histopathological (HP) technique (formalin fixation and paraffin embedding) and stained with Orcein and Goldner's trichrome. The obtained histological slides were transformed into virtual slides. Quantitative measurements of the three components were made on identical regions of interest (ROIs) selected from two-paired slides stained with the above-mentioned techniques using custom-made software, developed in MATLAB (MathWorks, USA). RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS: FE revealed an obvious decreasing general trend with age, present at all four levels of investigation. Smooth muscle fibers (FM) density showed almost no variation with age regardless of the level at which the measurement was made. FC(COL) density had an obvious increasing trend with age, expressed in all four aortic regions FE densities and FM densities were higher in men than in women, while FC(COL) densities were higher in women than in men in three of the aortic regions excepting, in all cases, the cross region. CONCLUSIONS: There were differences between men and women concerning the composition of aortic wall cellular and extracellular compartments. FE and FC(COL) dominated the age-related remodeling process of the aortic wall. The process evolved in the same way in all regions of the aorta. Studies need to be continued to define more clearly this complex process of vascular wall remodeling with aging.

Biallelic variants in BRCA1 gene cause a recognisable phenotype within chromosomal instability syndromes reframed as BRCA1 deficiency.

Pathogenic variants in BRCA1 gene in heterozygous state are known to be associated with breast-ovarian cancer susceptibility; however, biallelic variants cause a phenotype recognised as Fanconi anaemia complementation group S. Due to its rarity, medical management and preventive screening measures are insufficiently understood. Here, we present nine individuals (one new and eight previously presented) with biallelic variants in BRCA1 gene, to delineate clinical features in comparison with other chromosome instability syndromes and understand the patients' health risk. Features seen in these 9 individuals (7 females/2 males) include prenatal and postnatal growth failure (9/9), microcephaly (9/9), hypo/hyperpigmented lesions (9/9), facial dysmorphism (9/9), mild developmental delay (8/9) and early-onset solid tumours (5/9). None presented bone marrow failure or immunodeficiency. Individuals with biallelic variants in BRCA1 also showed chromosomal instability by mitomycin and diepoxybutane test. The phenotype caused by biallelic BRCA1 variants is best framed between Fanconi anaemia and Nijmegen syndrome, yet distinct due to lack of bone marrow failure and immunodeficiency. We hypothesise that disease class should be reframed and medical management in people with biallelic variants in BRCA1 should emphasise on detection of solid tumour development and avoiding exposure to ionising radiation.

Automated Gleason grading of prostate cancer using transfer learning from general-purpose deep-learning networks.

Two deep-learning algorithms designed to classify images according to the Gleason grading system that used transfer learning from two well-known general-purpose image classification networks (AlexNet and GoogleNet) were trained on Hematoxylin-Eosin histopathology stained microscopy images with prostate cancer. The dataset consisted of 439 images asymmetrically distributed in four Gleason grading groups. Mean and standard deviation accuracy for AlexNet derivate network was of 61.17±7 and for GoogleNet derivate network was of 60.9±7.4. The similar results obtained by the two networks with very different architecture, together with the normal distribution of classification error for both algorithms show that we have reached a maximum classification rate on this dataset. Taking into consideration all the constraints, we conclude that the resulted networks could assist pathologists in this field, providing first or second opinions on Gleason grading, thus presenting an objective opinion in a grading system which has showed in time a great deal of interobserver variability.

Tissue microarrays - brief history, techniques and clinical future.

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: There is a growing need for better, cheaper and faster histopathological diagnostic. The authors reviewed the main steps of the efforts towards the improvement of the pre-analytical phase of tissue processing for histological examination. RESULTS: Since their introduction decades ago tissue microarrays (TMAs) proved their value by increasing efficiency, standardization and accuracy of many histological techniques, such as histochemistry, histoenzymology, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, etc. By allowing the simultaneous analysis and comparison of multiple different tissues on a single histology slide (up to 1000 individual samples), TMAs are also having a significant economic advantage (consumables and labor). From its first description until recent years, the TMA techniques have evolved steadily but slowly despite many attempts to adapt it for clinical diagnostics. In this paper, we are reviewing the main techniques of obtaining TMA blocks from the beginning to the present day, as well as recent developments that are expanding their scope into high accuracy/efficiency clinical diagnostics. CONCLUSIONS: Considering recent developments, we believe that the prospect of high-throughput histology might be achievable in the not-so-distant future.

Peripheral adenopathies in children - an attempt of clinical morphological profile.

AIM: The authors have proposed to assess peripheral adenopathies in a series of hospitalized children in order to identify and define clinical and morphological profiles of different types of lymph node (LN) diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied group consisted of 58 patients less than 18 years of age. The investigation algorithm included: gender, age, site, involvement, side, extension and histopathological (HP) type of LN lesions. Tissue fragments were processed using classical histological techniques (formalin fixation and paraffin embedment) and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE). In some cases (tuberculous lesions and lymphomas), special stainings (Ziehl-Neelsen) and immunohistochemistry were used. Stratification scales of cases were defined according to each parameter in order to compare the data. All obtained data were assessed individually, compared to each other and with similar data from the literature with the help of a statistical apparatus [χ² (chi-squared) test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) test] in some cases. RESULTS: The young patients were slightly more frequently boys, of all ages but with a mean age of 10 and half years. The affected LNs belonged most often to neck region, either on the left or on the right side but sometimes bilateral or even on the midline; usually, more than one LN was involved in the area. In most of the cases, the lesions were localized in only one LN area. HP picture was dominated by the inflammatory processes, firstly the nonspecific ones, followed by tuberculosis. DISCUSSIONS: Our observations fitted, for each parameter, with the wide ranges found in the literature. Comparisons between parameters' variations revealed differences, sometimes significant that we tried to organize in clinical and morphological profiles. CONCLUSIONS: The assessment of our data allowed us to define some clinical and morphological profiles of different types of adenopathy that, by improvement on studies including larger series, could be of real use in daily pediatric practice.

Clinical-morphological profiles of esophageal carcinoma's main types.

AIM: The purpose of the study was to define and then to compare particularly the morphological profiles of the main morphological types of esophageal carcinoma (EC). PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied group included 46 operated EC patients. Few parameters were clinical (gender and age). The rest of them described both gross and histological features of the entire group and of the two main histological types of carcinoma (lesion' site, lateral extension, lesion dimensions, gross aspect, and histological type, and tumor grade, and stage). Stratification scales of cases were defined according to each parameter in order to compare the data and a statistical apparatus [Student's t-test and χ² (chi-squared) test] was used. RESULTS: The studied tumors were encountered mostly in mature adult and elderly men, usually in the lower segments of the esophagus. Many of them had between five and ten cm in the long diameter and produced stenosis. Most of them had infiltrating appearance combined often with protruding or∕and ulcerated aspects. Usually, the tumors were poorly differentiated and in stage III. The two main histological types of EC showed different morphological profiles. Data from the literature revealed sometimes wide ranges of variation for the studied morphological parameters. Our results were within these ranges of variation. CONCLUSIONS: ECs proved to be aggressive and late diagnosed tumors in general, with distinct morphological and behavioral profiles for the two main histological types. Comparisons with literature data confirmed many of our observations regarding the clinical and morphological aspects of both ECs as a whole and its histological types.

Agreement of two pre-trained deep-learning neural networks built with transfer learning with six pathologists on 6000 patches of prostate cancer from Gleason2019 Challenge.

INTRODUCTION: While the visual inspection of histopathology images by expert pathologists remains the golden standard method for grading of prostate cancer the quest for developing automated algorithms for the job is set and deep-learning techniques have emerged on top of other approaches. METHODS: Two pre-trained deep-learning networks, obtained with transfer learning from two general purpose classification networks - AlexNet and GoogleNet, originally trained on a proprietary dataset of prostate cancer were used to classify 6000 cropped images from Gleason2019 Challenge. RESULTS: The average agreement between the two networks and the six pathologists was found to be substantial for AlexNet and moderate for GoogleNet. When tested against the majority vote of the six pathologists the agreement was perfect and moderate for AlexNet, and GoogleNet, respectively. Despite our expectations, the average inter-pathologist agreement was moderate, while between the two networks it was substantial. Resulted accuracy for AlexNet and GoogleNet when tested against the majority vote as ground truth was of 85.51% and 74.75%, respectively. This result was higher than the score obtained on the dataset that they were trained on, showing their generalization capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Both the agreement and the accuracy indicate a better performance of AlexNet over GoogleNet, making it suitable for clinical deployment thus could potentially contribute to faster, more accurate and with higher reproducibility prostate cancer diagnosis.

The study of tumor architecture components in prostate adenocarcinoma using fractal dimension analysis.

AIM: The aim of the study is to evaluate the three main components of the tumor architecture in correlation with two different grading systems of prostate adenocarcinoma (PA) using the fractal dimension (FD) analysis. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: 433 fields with different patterns of PA selected from 83 patients with total prostatectomy according to Gleason and Srigley grading systems were selected. Four serial sections were cut and stained in order to assess the following parameters: tumor grading with Hematoxylin-Eosin (H-E), tumor cells architecture (GÖ) with Gömöri technique, tumor stroma architecture (TC) with Goldner's trichrome, and vascular network (VN) architecture with cluster of differentiation 34 (CD34) immunomarker. Images were binarized with variable user-defined empiric threshold for Goldner's trichrome staining and CD34 immunostaining and k-nearest neighbor approach for GÖ staining. The FD was computed for each binary image using a box-counting algorithm. The three computed values were used for clustering and classification, k-nearest neighbor proving to be a good choice with a classification rate, due to the irregular distribution of cases in different patterns. Values tending to "1" had the meaning of a more "Linear type" distribution and values tending to "2" had the meaning of a more "Area type" distribution. RESULTS: Tumor cells architecture had a more ordered smooth ascending trend towards "area-like" type of distribution (with FD>1.5) in Srigley system than in Gleason system. Tumor stroma architecture had almost the same type of distribution - between "linear-like" and "area-like" (FD~1.5) - in both grading systems. VN architecture had a more "linear-like" type of distribution (FD<1.5), with a descending trend towards high-grade patterns in both systems. Tumor cells architecture had a direct correlation with tumor stroma architecture and VN architecture (p-value of Pearson's test <0.001), while tumor stroma architecture and VN architecture proved no correlation (p-value of Pearson's test >0.05), irrespective of grading pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor cell population is remodeling and adapting TC and VN in the same way its architectural disposal evolves. TC and VN develop independently of each other, the former towards "Area type" and the latter towards "Linear type" of architectural disposal as the degree of differentiation is decreasing. FD analysis proved that Srigley system is more accurate in grading PA than Gleason system.

The clinical-morphological profile of tuberculous pleurisies - our experience in relation to literature data.

AIM: The authors made a morphological evaluation of pleural tissue fragments from patients hospitalized in Thoracic Surgery Department of the Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania, over a period of 26 years, diagnosed with tuberculous lesions in the Pathology Department of the same Hospital. PATIENTS, MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied material consisted of pleural tissue samples taken by biopsy or surgical excision from 39 cases coming out of 841 patients investigated in the above-mentioned period of time and diagnosed from histological point of view with tuberculosis (TB). Granuloma cell population was assessed using immunohistochemical method. For diagnostic confirmation, Ziehl-Neelsen staining has been used as a rule but, in some cases, immunohistochemistry was also used. RESULTS: TB lesions predominated in men usually around or over 50 years old. The diagnostic was suspected in almost half of the cases. Right cavity was more affected and the extended fibrosis was present in a significant number of cases. The inflammatory conflict was of reactive type, with giant Langhans cells granulomas and acidophilic necrosis but sometimes with superinfection or significant fibrous sequelae. CONCLUSIONS: Pleural effusions of TB origin are a reality more and more present due to the recrudescence of pulmonary TB in the last decades. Their presence should be suspected if faced to a unilateral pleural effusion with free-flowing fluid occurred almost often to a man of any age from youth to elderly.

Morphological changes of gums in occlusal trauma.

AIM: Occlusal trauma causes major modifications of the coverage periodontium, which in turn reflect on the dental unit. The aim of the present study is to evaluate some of the morphological modifications occurred in the marginal periodontium surrounding teeth affected by occlusal trauma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fragments of marginal periodontium coming from 51 patients with occlusal trauma were processed using classical histological techniques (formalin fixation and paraffin embedment) and stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE), Masson's trichrome and anti-CD34 antibody immunostaining, in order to highlight the epithelial and connective tissue changes of gingival mucosa. A set of epithelial and connective tissue morphological parameters were assessed individually and based on three topographical criteria concerning the affected tooth. RESULTS: The epithelium and especially its superficial compartment presented changes depending on the tooth type and the dental arch. Epithelial thickness had the tendency to decrease as the fibrosis in both corium compartments and vascular density in the deep corium compartment were increasing. Leukoplakia present around the affected teeth but not always was related with the tooth type and was more obvious as the superficial compartment of the epithelium was thicker and as fibrosis was more reduced in the papillary compartment of the corium. Vascular density reduced when fibrosis process increased in the corium. CONCLUSIONS: Lesions determined by occlusal trauma and their topography can and are influencing locally the different structures of the surrounding periodontium.

The clinical-morphological profile of bone and joints tuberculosis - our experience in relation to literature data.

AIM: The authors made a morphological assessment of musculoskeletal tissue samples from patients admitted in Surgical Departments of the Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania, between 1990 and 2015, proved as presenting tuberculous lesions in the Department of Pathology of the same Hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied material consisted of bone, joint and sometimes muscle tissue fragments resulted from biopsies or surgical excisions from 54 cases coming out of 841 patients investigated in the above-mentioned period of time, where the established histological diagnosis was tuberculosis (TB). For diagnostic confirmation, Ziehl-Neelsen staining has been used as a rule but, in some cases, immunohistochemistry was also used. RESULTS: TB lesions have prevailed in men and around the age of 50 despite the tissue involved (either bones or joints or both structures). Bone tissue, lower limb and right side of the body have been more frequently touched by the TB lesions. Axial bones (spine, ribs and hip bone) and knee joint have been the favorite sites. From morphological point of view, the inflammatory cellular population has been dominated by the epithelioid and giant Langhans cells that surrounded areas less or more extended of classical acidophilic fine granular necrosis. The fibrosis was observed more frequently around bone lesions, usually in an incipient phase. Overall, the granulomatous reaction was of reactive type but one should notice hyporeactive or areactive, disorganized reaction encountered quite often in bone or associated bone and joints lesions. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OATB) has a complex and dynamic clinical morphological picture, which is still partly known, described and understood especially in the field of morphological changes. Further detailed and integrative analysis of both clinical and morphological aspects is required so the suspicion of diagnosis at the admission becomes as soon as possible certitude.

The morphological profile of small bowel tumors - our experience.

AIM: The authors assessed the morphological profile of tumor masses belonging to the small bowel discovered in their daily practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 31 tumor masses located in different segments of small intestine operated between 2002 and 2013 in the 1st Surgical Department, Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania, were analyzed. The investigated parameters were: tumor location and number, tumor dimensions, gross assessment, tumor extension and histological assessment. RESULTS: Tumor masses belonging to small intestine were rare. They usually expressed by their complications. In many cases, they were placed at the extremities of the small intestine. They were usually small but sometimes large and developing outwards intestinal wall. Commonly they had a fungating and ulcerated appearance. They were rather of mesenchymal origin than epithelial. However, some of them were inflammatory pseudotumors. Almost all neoplastic proliferations had a malignant phenotype, most often with regional extension. CONCLUSIONS: Our series of tumors had a morphological profile somehow similar with the profile described in the literature but with some particularities: the polarization to the extremities of the intestinal segment, a significant number of large tumors, clinical expression through different complications, the balance inclined in favor of mesenchymal origin of tumors and the clear predominance of malignant aggressive phenotype.

Correlations between intratumoral interstitial fibrillary network and vascular network in Srigley patterns of prostate adenocarcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to assess the both individual behavior and correlations of stromal fibrillary component (SFC) and vascular density (VD) in relation with Srigley architectural patterns of prostate carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Digital images of prostate adenocarcinoma labeled following both Gleason and Srigley systems were acquired with ×20 objective from two serial sections, 340 from the section stained using Gömöri technique for SFC assessment and another corresponding 340 from the section immunomarked with anti-CD34 antibody for assessment of VD. The SFC amount and VD were determined and compared. Srigley patterns were divided in two redefined behavioral groups: "solid" group (Srigley I, Srigley III, Srigley IV) and "necrotizing" group (Srigley II with subdivisions: Gleason 3A, 3C and 5A). RESULTS: SFC mean values had an ascending trend in both "solid" and "necrotizing" groups. VD mean values had an ascending trend in "solid" group but a descending trend in "necrotizing" group towards Gleason 5A pattern. SFC and VD values had a direct, ascending correlation for all determinations (p=0.0006), but also for "solid" (p=0.005) and "necrotizing" (p=0.026) groups. The two stromal elements had different behaviors both individually and in their correlation that seem to be related with their interaction with different tumor cellular populations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results could plead for the hypothesis that the different subtypes of tumor architecture represent steps of a continuous process from well-differentiated status to poorly or undifferentiated status but who is accomplished by two different tumor cells populations with different distinct behavior in their relationship with the stromal microenvironment.

Comparative study of clinical-morphological profiles of different types of gastric carcinoma.

AIM: Gastric carcinoma shows considerable variation in the histological pattern and degree of differentiation. The aim of the study was to assess especially the morphological differences between gastric carcinomas revealing one morphological feature and those including two morphological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two groups of patients were selected: Group 1, including 43 patients with tumors revealing only one architectural pattern, and Group 2, including 16 patients with two architectural patterns within the tumor. In addition to gender and age, the main morphological parameters were: lesion location and macroscopic appearance on the surgical excision sample and microscopic appearance of the surgical excision sample, assessed for architectural pattern, secretory properties and prognosis based on histological features, degree of tumor extension and the degree of tumor aggressiveness, using a wide range of histological and immunohistochemical stainings. All data were compared between the two groups using statistical tests. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Significant differences were observed between the values and distributions of morphological parameters in the two groups and were discussed comparatively. CONCLUSIONS: Tumors with two dominant histological aspects present simultaneously are a reality that cannot be argued but whose morphological and biological profile needs to be completed and validated.

Lymph node tuberculosis - an attempt of clinico-morphological study and review of the literature.

AIM: The authors assessed the mycobacterial lesions in the lymph nodes discovered on tissue samples coming from the surgical stage in the Department of Pathology, Emergency County Hospital of Craiova, Romania, starting from 1990 until 2012. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The studied material consisted of lymph node (LN) tissue samples obtained by biopsy or surgical excision from 362 patients histopathologically diagnosed with tuberculosis. For confirming the diagnosis, Ziehl-Neelsen staining was carried out and, in some cases, PCR technique was used. RESULTS: Patients were mainly women, with a mean age of 35 years. The suspicion of diagnosis at admission was reduced, the most usual diagnosis being a very general and uncertain one of "adenopathy/polyadenopathy". In only few cases, other tissues/organs have been affected in the same time with the LN determination. Also, multiple LN group involvement was present in only five cases. The most affected LN groups were: the lateral cervical, submandibular, axillary, inguinal, supraclavicular and mesenteric. In paired LN groups, there was no predilection for any of the body sides. Epithelioid cells (ECs) and giant Langhans cells (GLCs) were present together in most of the granulomatous reactions. However, the presence of neutrophils in 10% of the cases should be noticed. Necrosis was present in almost all cases, displaying the whole range of morphological features, but usually the acidophilic, microgranular one. Fibrosis was rarely encountered. As a whole, well-differentiated granulomas were the most frequent but the presence of hyporeactive granulomas in more than a quarter of the cases and that of non-reactive granulomas in more than 10% of the cases should be noticed. The extension of TB process was not a rare event. CONCLUSIONS: LNs seem to be the favorite location of TB besides the lung. The overall morphological picture revealed an active and destructive profile of the bacillary aggression in the LN parenchyma, which could mean either a higher sensitivity of the LN tissue or a more vulnerable background of the patients with TBLN lesions.