Radiological staging in neuroblastoma : computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging?

Purpose: To compare the effectiveness of computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the staging of neuroblastomas according to the International Neuroblastoma Risk Group Staging System (INRGSS). Material and methods: In this single-centre retrospective study we identified a total of 20 patients under the age of 18 years, who were admitted to our hospital with neuroblastoma between January 2005 and May 2018, and who had both CT and MRI examination. The INRGSS stages of tumours were evaluated by CT scan and MRI. Then, stages of tumours were described according to the INRGSS for CT and MRI, separately. The Spearman rank correlation test was used for statistical analysis. The p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The median age was 11 months, and the age range was one month to nine years. In our results; both MRI and CT were significant in the determination of radiological staging of NBL, p < 0.001 and p = 0.002, respectively. MRI was superior to CT in radiological staging. MRI was also superior for the detection of intraspinal extension, involvement of multiple body compartments, metastatic disease, and bone marrow infiltration. CT was more useful to consider the relationship between tumours and vascular structures. Conclusions: MRI and CT have high diagnostic accuracy rates in the staging of pre-treatment neuroblastomas. MRI is important in pre-treatment evaluation of neuroblastomas because of the higher detection of metastases as well as the lack of ionising radiation

Telomerase Activity of Chorionic Trophoblasts in Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes

Premature rupture of membranes (PROM) is a complication associated with preterm birth. Because most neonatal death, morbidity, and cost are linked to preterm birth, understanding, the mechanisms for developing preterm PROM (pPROM) is critical. The aim of this Study is to investigate whether telomerase activity of the chorionic trophoblasts may play a role in the pathogenesis of PROM. Placental membranes were collected from 56 patients with pPROM and 45 patients with preterm labor (PTL). Telomerase activity was assessed by immunohistochemistry, and telomerase activity index (TAI) was calculated for both groups. Results are expressed as the mean +/- standard deviation. Differences between groups were analyzed using an independent-samples t-test. To evaluate Other suggested mechanisms, such as apoptosis and extracellular Matrix degradation, immunohistochemistry for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-3, and M30 CytoDEATH antibodies were also performed. The TAI was found to be 6.8 +/- 3.2 for PTL, while it was 2.5 +/- 1.5 for pPROM. Decreased TAI was statistically significant in pPROM membranes in comparison with PTL (P < 0.001). Number of apoptotic trophoblasts was significantly increased for the membranes of pPROM (P < 0.001), whereas strong staining of MMP-9 and TIMP-3 was found for chorionic trophoblasts its well as for other cells in both groups. Although Study of the pPROM has focused on activation of matrix metalloproteinases and apoptosis that result in the consequence of a programmed membrane weakening process, decreased telomerase activity of chorionic trophoblasts is likely to have a contributing in the pathogenesis of pPROM as well

Spinal Enterogenous Cysts In Infants

Intraspinal enterogenous cysts are very rare congenital cysts of endodermal origin, and tend to occur in anterior spinal intradural space. The diagnosis is usually established during the first or second decade of life. Those cysts are frequently associated with vertebral or spinal cord anomalies and dual malformation with mediastinal or abdominal cysts. We report two infants of posterior spinal enterogenous cyst in this study, one thoracolumbar (T12-L1) and one lumbar (L2-L4) presenting with features of subcutaneous lesion of posterior spinal. In one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a cystic mass extending to posterior intramedullary from subcutaneous localization at T12-L1, and in the other MRI demonstrated a syrinx extending from T11 to L1, tethered cord syndrome associated with a meningocele sac between L2 and L4. The cystic lesions in the patients were removed. The postoperative courses were uneventful. The patients appeared well after six years and four years of follow-up, respectively. Successful treatment requires early recognition of those cysts and their associated abnormalities

The significance of Ki-67 proliferative index and cyclin D1 expression of dysplastic nevi in the biologic spectrum of melanocytic lesions

Familial acquired dysplastic nevi carry a risk for the development of melanoma. However, the results in various studies regarding the significance of sporadic dysplastic nevi as a precursor of malignant melanoma (MM), are controversial. The aim of this study is to investigate cyclin DI expression and Ki67 proliferative index in a group of melanocytic lesions to address the biologic significance of sporadic dysplastic nevi in the progression of melanocytic lesions. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material from 21 common melanocytic nevi, 42 dysplastic nevi, and 17 primary cutaneous MMs were examined. Standard streptavidin-biotin immunoperoxidase method was used for immunostaining with cyclin DI and Ki-67 antibody. Nuclear cyclin DI immunostaining was scored and Ki-67 proliferative index was calculated. Cyclin DI expression was significantly higher in melanoma than those in other lesions. However, there was no significant difference between dysplastic nevi and common melanocytic nevi in terms of cyclin DI expression. Ki-67 index was significantly higher in dysplastic nevi compared with common melanocytic nevi and to melanoma compared with dysplastic nevi. There was a significant positive correlation between cyclin DI expression and Ki-67 proliferative index for each group. The present study indicates significant differences in cyclin DI expressions and Ki-67 indices among rnelanocytie lesions. We think that dysplastic nevi are biologically separate from common melanocytic nevi in terms of proliferative activity. Additionally, our results suggest that cyclin DI expression may be related to malignant phenotype and is associated with high proliferation rate in MM

The Significance of Histopathologic Assessment in Bone Marrow Disease in Neuroblastoma

Objective: Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children and is responsible for 12% of cancer-related deaths. The status of metastatic disease in the bone marrow (BM) is a predictor of poor outcome. The purpose of this study was to investigate the predictive significance of histopathological examination of BM in NB

Effects of vitamin C treatment on collar-induced intimal thickening

WOS: 000366530900003PubMed ID: 26719672Vitamin C has efficient antioxidant properties and is involved in important physiological processes such as collagen synthesis. As such, vitamin C deficiency leads to serious complications, including vascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin C treatment on collar-induced intimal thickening. Rabbits were fed a normocholesterolemic diet and a non-occlusive silicon collar was placed around the left carotid artery for 3, 7, and 14 days. The rabbits were treated with or without vitamin C (150 mg/kg/day). Collar-induced intimal thickening became apparent at day 7. The effect of the collar on intimal thickening was more prominent at day 14. Vitamin C treatment significantly inhibited collar-induced intimal thickening at day 14. The placement of the collar around the carotid artery decreased maximum contractile responses against contractile agents (KCl, phenylephrine, 5-hydroxytryptamine). The effect of the collar on contractile responses was enhanced as days elapsed. Decreased contractile responses of collared carotid arteries normalized at day 14 in the vitamin C treatment group. Vitamin C treatment also restored sensitivity to phenylephrine. The collar also significantly decreased acetylcholine-induced relaxations at day 3 and day 7. Acetylcholine-induced relaxations normalized in collared-arteries in the placebo group at day 14. Vitamin C treatment significantly increased acetylcholine-induced relaxations of both normal and collared carotid arteries at day 14. MMP-9 expression increased in collared arteries at day 3 and day 7 but did not change at day 14. MMP-2 expression increased in collared arteries at day 14. However, vitamin C treatment reduced collar-stimulated expression of MMP-2 at day 14. These findings indicate that vitamin C may have potentially beneficial effects on the early stages of atherosclerosis. Furthermore these results, for the first time, may indicate that vitamin C can also normalize decreased contractile response through perivascular collar placement.Scientific Research Foundation of Ege University, Izmir, TurkeyEge UniversityThis research was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

Intraoperative cytological diagnosis of brain tumours: A preliminary study using a deep learning model

© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Background: Intraoperative pathological diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) tumours is essential to planning patient management in neuro-oncology. Frozen section slides and cytological preparations provide architectural and cellular information that is analysed by pathologists to reach an intraoperative diagnosis. Progress in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning means that AI systems have significant potential for the provision of highly accurate real-time diagnosis in cytopathology. Objective: To investigate the efficiency of machine-learning models in the intraoperative cytological diagnosis of CNS tumours. Materials and Methods: We trained a deep neural network to classify biopsy material for intraoperative tissue diagnosis of four major brain lesions. Overall, 205 medical images were obtained from squash smear slides of histologically correlated cases, with 18 high-grade and 11 low-grade gliomas, 17 metastatic carcinomas, and 9 non-neoplastic pathological brain tissue samples. The neural network model was trained and evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation. Results: The model achieved 95% and 97% diagnostic accuracy in the patch-level classification and patient-level classification tasks, respectively. Conclusions: We conclude that deep learning-based classification of cytological preparations may be a promising complementary method for the rapid and accurate intraoperative diagnosis of CNS tumours