A new combined bodian-luxol technique for staining unmyelinated axons in semithin, resin-embedded peripheral nerves: a comparison with electron microscopy.

peer reviewedaudience: researcher, professionalQuantitation of unmyelinated fibers (UF) in peripheral nerves has classically relied upon ultrastructural morphometry. Because this method is time-consuming, it is not typically performed in routine analysis of nerve biopsies. We applied the Bodian-Luxol technique to detect unmyelinated axons by light microscopy on semithin sections from resin-embedded nerve tissue. Estimates were compared to ultrastructural counts. The staining appeared highly specific for axons. Excellent correlation was found between optic densities and the population of UF larger than 0.5 microm. The smallest profiles detected by light microscopy had a diameter close to 0.6 microm. This new technique is not a substitute for ultrastructural quantitative morphometry of UF, as very small unmyelinated axons, especially regenerating ones, can not be reliably visualized. However, it provides a valuable light microscopic method for evaluating axonal loss among UF

Jacob Jordaens en Een Nieu Liedeken van Callo. Een onverwacht dubbelzinnig gebruik van een zeventiende-eeuws Zuid-Nederlands zegelied

Jordaens's aim in inscribing three differing compositions of the proverb As the old sang, so pipe the young with the title of a victory song from the Southern Netherlands, Een Nieu Liedeken van Callo (1638), can only be understood in conjunction with a rejoinder ballad from the North (1644), thus forming a terminus post quem for these paintings. The converse use of a song underscores the topsy-turvy world which Jordaens emulates in this proverb which is intent on facilitating a predestination interpretation. Erasmus and his contemporaries exploited exempla contraria to great success but the ability of the public to correctly interpret this dangerously confusing teaching method waned irrevocably during the seventeenth century. This protected Jacob Jordaens from persecution in his day but also impairs our ability to appreciate him as a sharp-witted artist with an edge, exploiting confessional equivocal themes on personal and/or commercial grounds

Nerve biopsy: indications and contribution to the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy. The experience of the Born Bunge Foundation University of Antwerp and University of Liege between 1987 and 1997.

We reviewed 355 nerve biopsies analysed at the Laboratories of Neuropathology of the Born-Bunge Foundation/University of Antwerp (BBF/UIA) and University of Liege (ULg) between 1987 and 1997. We examined the indications for nerve biopsy, the yield of the procedure, and the influence of clinical and neuropathological parameters. Contributory biopsies accounted for 35.5% and 47.3% respectively at ULg and BBF/UIA laboratories: of these, one third showed specific histological findings, the majority being informative only when combined with the relevant clinical data. The profile of indications for nerve biopsy was roughly comparable in both laboratories. The search for an inflammatory neuropathy prompted 35-40% of all biopsies with more than 50% of specimens being informative in this indication. The lowest yield (20%) was obtained among the nerve biopsies performed in the absence of any presumptive aetiology. These accounted for 22-33% of all cases. Inadequate surgical resection, delays in transport or processing errors precluded histological study of 4% (BBF/UIA) to 8% (ULg) of the specimens. We conclude that nerve biopsies should be performed by experienced surgeons and handled in specialised laboratories. Only a relatively small number of causes of neuropathy can be diagnosed on the basis of histology alone. More often, contributory biopsies will result from the combination of non-specific suggestive histological features with relevant clinical information. The diagnostic yield of nerve biopsy is function of careful patient selection and close collaboration between the clinician and the neuropathologist

Corps étranger radio-opaque dans la fosse iliaque droite et appendicite aiguë

SCOPUS: NotDefined.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Brulures cutanées à l'ypérite. À propos de deux nouveaux cas

SCOPUS: NotDefined.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Lymphocyte subsets from peripheral and mesenteric venous blood in surgical patients

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Pancreaticoduodenal resection for pancreatic or periampullary tumors - A ten-year experience

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Tumeur fibreuse solitaire maligne de la paroi abdominale chez un homme.

We report the first case of malignant solitary fibrous tumor of the abdominal wall in a man. Immunohistochemical staining for CD34 and bcl-2 were positive. Surprisingly, estrogen and progesterone receptors were focally positive. Expression of steroid hormone receptor in solitary fibrous tumor was rarely reported in the literature. In a few series, these receptors were identified as a risk factor of recurrences after surgical excision. Six months after complete surgical resection of the mass, our patient has been quite well without any evidence of recurrence.Case ReportsEnglish AbstractJournal ArticleSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Infantile and juvenile presentations of Alexander's disease: a report of two cases.

peer reviewedWe describe 2 new cases of Alexander's disease, the first to be reported in Belgium. The first patient, a 4-year-old girl, presented with progressive megalencephaly, mental retardation, spastic tetraparesis, ataxia and epilepsy: post-mortem examination showed widespread myelin loss with Rosenthal fibers (RFs) accumulation throughout the neuraxis. She was the third of heterozygotic twins, the 2 others having developed normally and being alive at age 5 years. The second patient developed at age 10 years and over a decade spastic paraparesis, palatal myoclonus, nystagmus, thoracic hyperkyphosis and thoraco-lumbar scoliosis with radiological findings of bilateral anterior leukoencephalopathy. Brain stereotactic biopsy at age 16 years demonstrated numerous RFs. With these 2 cases, we review the literature on the various clinico-pathological conditions reported as Alexander's disease. We discuss the nosology of this entity and the pathogeny of RFs formation and dysmyelination. Clues to the diagnosis of this encephalopathy in the living patient are briefly described

Thoracoscopy in oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe