Rapid and simple method of photobleaching to reduce background autofluorescence in lung tissue sections.

Autofluorescence exhibited by tissues often interferes with immunofluorescence. Using imaging and spectral analysis, we observed remarkable reduction of autofluorescence of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues irradiated with light prior to incubation with immunofluorescent dyes. The technique of photobleaching offers significant improvement in the quality and specificity of immunofluorescence. This has the potential for better techniques for disease diagnosis.

Cerebral aneurysms in atrial myxoma: a delayed, rare manifestation.

Atrial myxomas are the most common primary tumors of the heart. Neurologic involvement usually occurs as a stroke with ischemic episodes. Following excision of cardiac myxomas, delayed neurologic events owing to aneurysms are rare and have not been reported from India. We report an operated case of left atrial myxoma. The patient initially presented with a stroke and 6 months after the surgery, developed multiple intracerebral hemorrhages due to the rupture of fusiform cerebral aneurysms, without recurrence of the cardiac tumor.

Clinico-pathological study of cerebral aneurysms.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: A clinico-pathological study of cerebral aneurysms was undertaken to understand the histopathogical nature of the lesions and to ascertain possible etiological risk factors. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Of the 255 cases of cerebral aneurysms operated upon at our Institute during the two-year period between Jan 1999 to Dec 2000, a detailed study was conducted on 57 cases where the aneurysm sac could be excised and subjected to histopathological examination. Aneurysm sacs were fixed in 10% buffered formaldehyde and processed through graded alcohol. Paraffin-embedded sections were examined, using hematoxylin and eosin, Verhoeff van Gieson's and toluidine blue staining techniques. Histopathological observations were analyzed and correlated with clinical features. RESULTS: The ages of the patients ranged from 17-65 years and there were 33 males and 24 females. Twenty-six patients were chronic smokers and 19 patients had hypertension. There were 54 saccular and 3 fusiform aneurysms, predominantly involving the anterior circulation (52 cases) than posterior circulation (5 cases). In 35 cases, histopathological studies demonstrated mucoid deposits between hyperplastic cellular elements in the true and false aneurysm wall and/or parent artery or vasavasora. The changes were associated with dystrophic changes in the internal elastic lamina. CONCLUSION: Besides significant risk factors like smoking and hypertension, such mucoid vasculopathic changes may have predisposed vessels to structural weakness and aneurysm formation in our patients.

Teratoma masquerading as catamenial pleural effusion.

Pleural effusion is a common clinical entity in medical practice. We report a case wherein extensive investigations failed to yield a diagnosis and medical management including repeated thoracocentesis left the effusion refractory. The patient, a 26 years lady, gave a definite history of catamenial dry cough and wheeze. The mystery was unraveled following exploratory thoracotomy when a giant mediastinal teratomatous cyst with luteinized ovarian tissue was discovered and removed, leading to eventual cure for the patient.

Atypical meningioma: a clinicopathological analysis.

In this retrospective study, 382 operated cases of meningiomas were reviewed. 32 cases (8.3%) were histopathologically classified as atypical meningioma. The anatomical locations and histological features in all the thirty-two cases were correlated with their recurrence rates and biological behaviour. The overall recurrence rate for atypical meningioma within two years was 28% as compared to 9.3% in benign meningiomas. It is being emphasized that an accurate histopathological interpretation of atypical meningioma is essential for predicting the recurrence, biological behavior as well as post-operative management modalities.

Intraventricular neurocytoma: a report of two cases.

Central neurocytomas are uncommon intracranial neoplasms. More than one hundred cases are documentated in the literature. In this report we describe the clinical and histopathological features in two patients with intraventricular neurocytoma. As the light microscopic features of neurocytoma resemble with that of an oligodendroglioma, it is essential to differentiate these two tumours, using either ultrastructural or immunohistochemical techniques.

Disposable polyethylene wiremesh capsules for histopathological tissue processing.

An attempt was made to find a suitable alternative material for tissue carriers other than gauze and stainless steel capsules. Since polyethylene (high density) wire mesh is resistant to all acids, alkalis and inorganic chemicals and has no known solvent at room temperature, it is a suitable alternative disposable material for histopathological tissue processing purposes.

Dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum (Lhermitte-Duclos disease)--a case report with review of the literature.

Dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum is an uncommon malformative lesion and clinically manifest as a slow growing space occupying lesion. In this report, the characteristic clinical and histopathological features of a case of dysplastic gangliocytoma of the cerebellum are described.