Disseminated Astrocytoma. A Neuropathologc Study

Neuropathologic findings of a case of disseminated astrocytoma are described in a 47-year-old woman who had progressive mental deterioration, gait disturbance and urinary incontinence. She became comatose and tetraplegic in the later stage of a one year course. Neuropathologically, the brain was of normal size and neoplastic astrocytes of low malignant nature and variable cellularity were scattered throughout the brain, which was examined from the frontal lobe to the medulla oblongata. The tumor cells were especially prominent in the subpial and subependymal regions. Our case was thought to be intermediate between gliomatosis cerebri and multicentric glioblastoma

Esophageal tracheobronchoplasty for diseases of the central airway

AbstractThree infants with congenital tracheal stenosis and three adults with various diseases of the central airway underwent esophageal tracheobronchoplasty to repair long-segment stenoses and defects. The primary operative goal was enlargement of the stenosis ( n = 4), repair of the defect ( n = 1), or both ( n = 1). Cardiopulmonary support was required in two cases. All three infants were operated on for generalized congenital tracheal stenoses. There was one postoperative death on the fifth day. Another infant died of pneumonia 3 months after operation. Tracheal patency was excellent in two infants. One infant is well without symptoms 6 years after the operation, although balloon dilation was required three times during the first postoperative year. In the three adult patients, the primary diseases were congenital tracheal stenosis, iatrogenic injury associated with relapsing polychondritis, and malignant mediastinal tumor involving the trachea. All lesions involved both the trachea and main stem bronchi. Postoperative airway patency was excellent in all three adults, although expandable metallic stents had to be inserted in one patient. Postoperative pulmonary function was improved, particularly forced expiratory volume in 1 second and peak expiratory flow rate. Although the postoperative mortality rate was still high, especially among the infants, and prolonged postoperative ventilatory support was required for five of the six patients, long-term patency and postoperative pulmonary functional improvement are encouraging. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:124-9

SOX11 contributes to the regulation of GDF5 in joint maintenance

Background: Individual skeletal elements of the vertebrate limbs arise through a segmentation process introducing joints in specific locations. However, the molecular pathways controlling joint formation and subsequent joint maintenance are largely unknown. In this study, we focused on SOX11, and its contribution to the regulation of GDF5, a secreted signal necessary for proper joint formation and postnatal joint homeostasis. Results: Sox11 is initially expressed broadly in the murine cartilage condensations at early stages of skeletal development, but its expression is specifically increased in the forming joint interzone as is forms. SOX11 overexpression can directly activate GDF5 expression both in vitro and in micromass cell cultures prepared from chick limb buds. Conserved SOX family binding sites are present in the 5’ UTR region of the GDF5 gene and we show SOX11 can specifically bind to one of them. While misexpression of Sox11 in developing chick limbs through RCAS virus infection does not induce Gdf5 expression in ectopic locations, it does enhance its expression. To explore the roles of Sox11 in joint homeostasis, we analyzed adult knee joints in an osteoarthritis mouse model where the medial meniscus and the medial collateral ligament were removed. We also analyzed knee joints from human subjects who underwent total knee replacement surgery. We find that SOX11 is mainly expressed in the weight-bearing areas of knee joints, and its expression is decreased in degraded cartilage during progression of knee osteoarthritis in both mice and humans. Conclusions: This work implicates SOX11 as a potential regulator of GDF5 expression in joint maintenance and suggests a possible role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis

A Retrospective Study of 231 Japanese Vitiligo Patients with Special Reference to Phototherapy

Although the outcomes of various treatment modalities for vitiligo have long been studied, the influence of each participant’s feature on treatment response has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, we aimed to retrospectively investigate treatment effect and its association with clinical characteristics in Japanese patients with vitiligo. The charts of vitiligo patients treated in our institution were reviewed. Clinical response was evaluated by marked response rate (repigmentation in &gt;75% of the initial lesional area). 162 patients were treated with phototherapy while 69 were treated with topical mono-therapy. The overall patients treated with phototherapy or those who treated with both phototherapy and topical treatment demonstrated significantly higher clinical response rate compared to patients treated with topical mono-therapy (marked response rate: 19.1% vs. 5.8%, P&lt;0.05; and 23.5% vs. 5.8%, P&lt;0.01, respectively). Among the phototherapy-treated patients, younger subjects (£15 years old) were more responsive to phototherapy compared to older patients (37.0% vs. 15.6%; P=0.015). The disease subtypes did not affect treatment response. In conclusion, phototherapy appears to have a therapeutic effect superior to topical mono-therapy on both focal and generalized vitiligo, especially in younger patients. Thus, any type of psychosocially devastating lesions in a pediatric patient may be a good target for phototherapy.</p

Analysis of KIT, SCF, and Initial Screening of SLUG in Patients with Piebaldism

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