Utilidad de la biopsia de médula ósea en estadificación de pacientes con cáncer de mama / Usefulness of bone marrows biopsy in the breast cancer patients staging

El objetivo del presente estudio es determinar la utilidad de la biopsia de médula ósea en la estadificación de pacientes con cáncer de mama. Estudio prospectivo, descriptivo y con diseño transversal. La población estuvo representada por los nuevos casos diagnosticados como cáncer de mama en la consulta de cirugía oncológica y patología mamaria, la muestra quedó conformada por 18 casos. Los datos obtenidos se clasificaron y procesaron en una matriz de datos, se analizaron mediante técnica de estadística simple descriptiva o “tabulación simple porcentual” apoyadas en medias de dispersión (frecuencias relativas). La mayoría de los casos se estadificaron en etapas clínicas IIA y IIB. La totalidad de los casos incluidos en esta investigación resultaron negativos para micrometástasis en médula ósea, lo cual podría predecir que se tratan de pacientes con buen pronóstico. Ante la falla como factor pronóstico del estado ganglionar se especula que la detección de células tumorales tempranas puede predecir el curso de la enfermedad mejor que el estado de los ganglios axilares. Actualmente la determinación genética ha tenido un impacto mayor como factor pronóstico que los estudios de estadificación convencionales. Ahora bien la determinación de células tumorales en la médula podría establecerse como parte del protocolo de estadificación en los diversos centros de referencia oncológico, y convertirse al igual que la determinación del perfil genético, como un factor pronóstico y predictivo importante en las pacientes con cáncer de mama y etapa clínicas tempranas.

The objective of the present study is to determine the usefulness and importance of bone marrows biopsy in the breast cancer patients staging. To such end, a cross sectional, prospective, and descriptive study was performed. The population was represented by new diagnosed cases of breast cancer view and evaluated in the consult of surgery oncology y mammalian pathology of our institution, formed the sample by 18 cases. The data obtained were processed and classified in an adequate data matrix; the results once separated were analyzed by the simple descriptive statistic technique or percentile simple tabulation, supported by the dispersion measures (the relative frequencies). Most of the cases were classified in IIA and IIB clinical stages. All included cases in this research were negative to bone marrow´s micro metastases, and which can predict good prognosis in these patients. At lymph node staging failure as a prognostic factor we can be speculate that the early tumor cell detection can predict the course of the disease better than the staging of axillaries lymph nodes. Actually the genetic determination has a better impact as a prognostic factor that the conventional staging studies. The determination of bone marrow´s tumor cell can be establish as a very important part of the staging protocol in the different especial oncologic reference centers, and became as same as genetic profile determination in an important prognostic and predictive factor in breast cancer patients at early stages.

Intoxicação por Trema micrantha (Ulmaceae) em caprinos no Estado de Santa Catarina / Poisoning by Trema micrantha (Ulmaceae) in goats in the State of Santa Catarina

Vinte e cinco caprinos, criados em piquetes, morreram nos cinco dias subsequentes ao fornecimento de folhas de Trema micrantha (fam.Ulmaceae), uma árvore com nome comum de grandiúva. Quatro caprinos foram necropsiados e amostras de vísceras foram coletadas para exame histológico. As principais alterações clínicas foram: apatia, anorexia, cabeça apoiada contra obstáculos, decúbito e morte. Achados macroscópicos incluíram sufusões no epicárdio e endocárdio; fígado levemente amarelado e com padrão lobular evidente e, em um caso, acompanhado de hemorragias multifocais. Na histologia observou-se necrose hepática, que variava de centrolobular a massiva, compatível com hepatopatia tóxica. No SNC havia satelitose, tumefação neuronal, edema periaxonal, perivascular. O diagnóstico de intoxicação por Trema micrantha foi baseado no quadro clínico e lesional de hepatite tóxica associado ao uso da planta para alimentação de caprinos.

Twenty five goats, maintained in paddocks, had died in five subsequent days after have been offered leaves, mixed in the ration, of Trema micrantha, a tree commonly called grandiúva. Four animals were necropsied and samples were collected for histopathology. Clinical signs included apathy, anorexia, head pressing against obstacles, decubitus and death. Macroscopic findings included suffusions in the epi- and endocardium, a yellowish liver with pronounced lobular pattern, in one goat, the liver presented additionally multiple visible hemorrhages. Histological examination revealed centrilobular to massive hepatic necrosis consistent with acute liver toxicosis. In the brain, satelitosis, neuronal swelling, and perineuronal and perivascular edema was found. The diagnosis of poisoning by Trema micrantha was based in the clinical picture characteristic of toxic hepatitis associated in the feeding of the plant to the goats.

In vivo visualization of bonghan ducts inside blood vessels of mice by using an Alcian blue staining method.

An in vivo method using Alcian blue (AB) was developed for visualizing floating threadlike tissues inside blood vessels of mice. These novel structures called intravascular Bonghan ducts (IBHDs) are considered as extension of acupuncture meridians. For in vivo imaging of IBHDs, AB solution (pH 7.4) that stains mucopolysaccharides like hyaluronic acid was used. After injecting AB solution into the femoral vein of a mouse, the threadlike structures, stained deep blue, inside the inferior vena cava. The histological results, such as hematoxylin, eosin, and AB staining, show the compositions of the cells and the extracellular matrix in the IBHD. Further studies are needed to investigate their physiological functions, especially in relation with those of other circulatory systems.