Lymphangitis carcinomatosa-diagnostic use of immunohistological staining in atypical cases

Lymphangitis carcinomatosa [LC] usually presents a typical clinical and radiological picture. However, diagnostic difficulty arises when the clinical presentation is complicated by other features or the radiological picture is atypical. This paper describes 5 atypical cases where diagnosis was established by transbronchial lung biopsy. In 2 of these cases immunohistological staining was used to determine the epithelial nature of the cancer cells or to differentiate between blood vessel capillaries and lymphatics. We believe this to be the first reported use of this staining method in LC

Ultrastructural abnormalities of cilia secondary to chronic pulmonary infections: a prospective study

The cilia are an essential component of the respiratory defense system. Certain ciliary abnormalities are produced by chronic infections. In this prospective study, ultra-structural features of cilia are described in 46 subjects. Thirty patients were studied for the problem of recurrent chest infections; of these, 6 showed ciliary abnormalities which were specific and diagnostic of primary ciliary dyskinesia. In 24 patients there were other abnormalities which were presumably secondary to chronic infections. This paper describes the various ciliary abnormalities seen in the latter group. It is emphasized that, as ciliary abnormalities may be the result rather than the cause of infections, a diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia should be made with caution