1, 25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25-(OH)(2) D(3)) levels in osteoporosis.

In the present study primary involution osteoporosis and vitamin D levels were studied in 60 subjects including thirty controls. The biochemical analysis of serum calcium, phosphorus, ALP, albumin and vitamin D(3) (1,25-(OH)(2) D(3)) levels were significantly decreased in osteoporotic patients when compared to non-osteoporotic control group. There was a significant correlation of magnitude of sun exposure with 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) levels. Similarly, vitamin D intake in the diet has a significant correlation with 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) concentration. However, no correlation could be obtained between vitamin D(3) levels with increasing age. Among the biochemical markers serum calcium, phosphorus, ALP and albumin could not be correlated with 1,25-(OH)(2) D(3) levels.

Parosteal (juxtacortical) osteogenic sarcoma. A roentgenological study of 30 patients.

Detailed analysis of the roentgen findings in 30 well-documented cases of parosteal osteogenic sarcoma (POS) was made. The supposedly characteristic periosteal lucency (cleavage plane) was found in only 30% of the patients. While most tumors were densely ossified, the radiodensity was uniform in only 27%. The surface of the tumor was usually irregular and a truly smooth surface was seen in only 24%. Four patients underwent arteriography; there was vessel displacement by the tumors but all were avascular. No correlation between the histologic grade of tumor and roentgen signs was found.

Osteonecrosis of the knee. A clinicopathological study in twenty-eight patients.

Specimens from thirty-four knees in twenty-eight patients with histologically proved osteonecrosis were reviewed. Twelve knees had the clinical diagnosis of so-called idiopathic osteonecrosis; eight, osteoarthrosis; and fourteen, rheumatoid arthritis. Pathologically, the necrosis was localized in the subchondral region of the medial femoral condyle in 67 per cent of the knees. There were pathological fracture and collapse and fragmentation of the necrotic segment leading to marked deformities in most cases. The response to necrosis consisted of histiocytic resorption of necrotic material and formation of granulation tissue and reactive new bone surrounding it. The response was relatively less prominent in the knees with degenerative joint disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

Juxtacortical (parosteal) osteogenic sarcoma: histological grading and prognosis.

In twenty-four cases of juxtacortical osteogenic sarcoma, three histological grades of malignancy were identified and correlated with the prognosis. The eighteen patients with Grade-I or II tumors had a significantly better prognosis than the six with Grade-III lesions. The three grades could not be distinguished roentgenographically. Grade I and II tumors, which showed a high cure rate after amputation, may be amenable to en block resection, provided the entire tumor can be removed with a good margin of uninvolved soft tissue and underlying bone. Grade-III tumors, on the other hand, had a poor prognosis despite early radical surgery.

Ice crystal distortion of formalin-fixed tissues following freezing.

The inability of slowly frozen formalin-fixed tissues to reimbibe water normally on thawing accounts for the persistence of extracellular ice crystal spaces in such tissues and renders them useless for diagnostic microscopic examination. This phenomenon may be encountered by the surgical pathologist when tissues obtained for diagnosis are placed in formalin for fixation and the inadvertently frozen. The same type of ice crystal distortion was produced when formalin-fixed tissues were slowly frozen under laboratory conditions. The freezing artifact was not produced when formalin-fixed tissues were frozen in non-formalin-containing aqueous media.