Cases of primary malignant melanoma and melanocytosis of the esophagus observed by magnifying endoscopy : Application to differential diagnosis : case series

Rationale: Primary malignant melanoma of the esophagus (PMME) is a rare disease with an extremely poor prognosis. In contrast, melanocytosis is a benign condition defined as melanocytic proliferation with melanin deposition. PMME is often accompanied by melanocytosis, but differentiating between them is difficult because of their similar appearance. Patient concerns: Here, we reported 3 PMME cases, 2 with melanocytosis. Diagnoses: Magnifying endoscopy revealed characteristic non-uniform pigmented spots along deformed intrapapillary capillary loops (IPCLs) in PMME, while melanocytosis showed fine granule-like or linearly arranged spots and intact IPCLs. Interventions: The patients underwent endoscopic or surgical resection of each lesion. Outcomes: Histologically, magnified images reflected melanocyte growth. For cases 1 and 2, the patients remained disease-free for 61 and 15 months after endoscopic resection, respectively. In case 3, liver metastases developed two months after surgery, and the patient died from liver failure after six months. Lessons: This is the first report describing differences in magnified views of the 2 diseases, which aids a differential diagnosis

Papillary glioneuronal tumor growing slowly for 26 years: illustrative case

BACKGROUND: Papillary glioneuronal tumors (PGNTs) are classified as a type of World Health Organization grade I mixed neuronal-glial tumor. Most PGNTs involve cystic formations with mural nodules and solid components in the cerebral hemispheres, and PGNTs occur mainly in young adults. The long-term prognosis of PGNTs remains unclear. OBSERVATIONS: A 38-year-old male had been diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst associated with epilepsy in a local hospital. The initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study showed the tumor as a heterogeneously enhanced nodule in the left postcentral gyrus. Subsequent MRI studies showed slow growth of the tumor for 26 years. He underwent gross total resection to control his epilepsy. The histopathological findings revealed pseudopapillary structures involving hyalinized blood vessels with a single or pseudostratified layer of cuboidal glial cells with round nuclei and scant cytoplasm. At the periphery of the lesion, Rosenthal fibers and acidophilic granule bodies were observed in the gliotic brain tissue. Immunohistochemically, some interpapillary cells were positive for NeuN. On the basis of these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a PGNT. LESSONS: This PGNT showed slow growth for 26 years. When recognizing a slowly growing tumor in the cerebral hemispheres of relatively young people that is associated with epileptic seizures, PGNT should be considered as a differential diagnosis

Impurity conduction in phosphorus-doped buried-channel silicon-on-insulator field-effect transistors

We investigate transport in phosphorus-doped buried-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors at temperatures between 10 and 295 K. In a range of doping concentration between around 2.1 and 8.7 x 1017 cm-3, we find that a clear peak emerges in the conductance versus gate-voltage curves at low temperature. In addition, temperature dependence measurements reveal that the conductance obeys a variable-range-hopping law up to an unexpectedly high temperature of over 100 K. The symmetric dual-gate configuration of the silicon-on-insulator we use allows us to fully characterize the vertical-bias dependence of the conductance. Comparison to computer simulation of the phosphorus impurity band depth-profile reveals how the spatial variation of the impurity-band energy determines the hopping conduction in transistor structures. We conclude that the emergence of the conductance peak and the high-temperature variable-range hopping originate from the band bending and its change by the gate bias. Moreover, the peak structure is found to be strongly related to the density of states (DOS) of the phosphorus impurity band, suggesting the possibility of performing a novel spectroscopy for the DOS of phosphorus, the dopant of paramount importance in Si technology, through transport experiments.Comment: 9 figure

Perioperative Medical Complications after Posterior Approach Spinal Instrumentation Surgery for Osteoporotic Vertebral Collapse: A Comparative Study in Patients with Primary Osteoporosis and Those with Secondary Osteoporosis

Study DesignA retrospective comparative study.PurposeTo compare perioperative medical complications after posterior approach spinal instrumentation surgery for osteoporotic vertebral collapse (OVC) between patients with primary osteoporosis and those with secondary osteoporosis.Overview of LiteratureWith increased aging of society, the demand for instrumentation surgery for an osteoporotic spine has been increasing. However, no studies have compared the rates or severities of perioperative complications after spinal instrumentation surgery between patients with primary osteoporosis and those with secondary osteoporosis.MethodsNinety-one patients with OVC aged ≥50 years (23 males and 68 females) who underwent posterior approach vertebral replacement with cages or posterior spinal fusion combined with vertebroplasty were divided into primary (n=56) and secondary (n=35) osteoporosis groups. Bone mineral density (BMD), osteoporosis treatment prior to OVC, operative invasiveness, and perioperative medical complications were compared.ResultsDiabetes mellitus (51.4%) was the most common cause of secondary osteoporosis, followed by glucocorticoid use (22.9%). No significant differences were seen in terms of age, gender, BMD, osteoporosis treatment, or operative invasiveness, including the number of levels fused, estimated blood loss, and number of patients requiring transfusion. No significant difference in the incidence of perioperative complications were observed between the primary and secondary osteoporosis groups (16.1% vs. 22.9%). However, surgical site infection (SSI) was significantly more frequently seen in the secondary osteoporosis group (11.4%) than in the primary osteoporosis group (1.8%; p<0.05). One patient in the secondary osteoporosis group developed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection that ultimately required instrument removal.ConclusionsThe overall incidence of perioperative medical complications after posterior approach spinal instrumentation surgery for OVC was comparable between the primary and secondary osteoporosis groups under conditions of similar background characteristics and operative invasiveness. However, SSI (particularly more severe cases) occurred more frequently in patients with secondary osteoporosis

Lipid-membrane-incorporated hydrophobic photochromic molecules prepared by the exchange method using cyclodextrins

It was found that the exchange method for the preparation of lipid-membrane-incorporated guest molecules was applicable not only to fullerenes but also to other hydrophobic molecules such as azobenzene and stilbene. Advantages of this method are that the long-term stability of lipid-membrane-incorporated azobenzene solution and the maximum ratio of [stilbene]/[lipid] were higher than those prepared by the classical method, which we call the ‘premixing method’. Photoisomerisations of these photochromic guest molecules in the lipid membranes maintained the morphology of liposomes.This file includes Electronic Supplementary Information.This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (Grant No. 25288037), a Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (Grant Nos. 24655128 and 25650053) and a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A) (Grant No. 24681028)