Regulation of experimental peritonitis: a complex orchestration.

Experimental peritonitis is a frequently used inflammatory model to evaluate leukocyte recruitment. By the intrinsic characteristics of the peritoneal cavity, the various resident cell populations have a role to play in the initiation, the modulation and the resolution of peritoneal inflammation. Through various manipulations of these cell populations, we gained important knowledge on their respective roles in peritoneal inflammation. In this brief review, we will focus on the cellular regulation of leukocyte recruitment in experimental peritonitis.

Fluoroscopic-guided in vivo gastric mapping for assessment of gastric carcinoma.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The authors seek to determine if a new method of combining fluoroscopy and nasogastric biopsy can demonstrate the existence and boundary limits of a known gastric carcinoma or its premalignant conditions. The study is performed in hopes of avoiding unnecessary surgery or limiting resection. METHODS: Two cases are presented to illustrate the technique. The first had a known gastric carcinoma; the other had adenomatous change in the antrum. After topical anesthesia was applied, a nasogastric tube with a coaxial biopsy forceps was inserted. Multiple biopsies were taken in a designed geographic pattern and sent to pathology. The patient with known carcinoma received a total gastrectomy. The specimen was sectioned in the same regions as the biopsies to validate mapping technique. RESULTS: Pathology results for sectioned stomach were nearly identical to the biopsies showing the technique can accurately map the stomach. No adenomatous change in the antrum or other sections of the stomach was observed in the second case. This resulted in the patient being spared gastric resection. CONCLUSIONS: Fluoroscopic-guided gastric mapping can aid in determining the boundaries of a known carcinoma or premalignant conditions. Additional cases and follow-up are necessary.

Hodgkin's disease and an extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma in the small intestine: an unusual composite lymphoma.

We describe a 74-year-old man who presented with multifocal small bowel lesions, a large mesenteric mass, and enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes. In each of the extranodal sites and in two of three regional lymph nodes, there were classic histologic features of marginal zone B-cell lymphoma with adjacent areas of Hodgkin's disease, mixed cellularity subtype. Immunophenotypic analysis in the areas of low-grade B-cell lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue showed immunoreactivity for CD45RB and CD20 in the malignant small cell population. Conversely, the areas of Hodgkin's disease demonstrated positive immunoreactivity for CD15 and CD30 in the Reed-Sternberg cells and variants. Latent membrane protein for Epstein-Barr virus was also positive in the Reed-Sternberg cells and variants.

Acute megakaryoblastic leukemia following transient myeloproliferative disorder in a patient without Down syndrome.

Transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD) and subsequent acute myeloid leukemia (AML) occur with increased frequency in infants and children with Down syndrome. TMD can also occur in phenotypically normal newborns. We describe the second case of a non-Down syndrome child with TMD who subsequently developed AML. Trisomy 21 karyotypic was restricted to hematopoietic cells in the blood and bone marrow. No other karyotypic abnormalities were found. Leukemic blasts showed megakaryoblastic features with immunophenotyping. This case shows that TMD in a child without Down syndrome may not be entirely benign. Close follow-up is warranted.

Primary cardiac lymphoma: CT and MR findings.

Primary cardiac lymphomas, defined as those involving only the heart and pericardium, are extremely rare tumors. These tumors are commonly fatal and until recently were rarely diagnosed antemortem. We describe the CT and MR findings in a case of primary lymphoma of the heart currently responding to chemotherapy.

Hodgkin's disease presenting as spontaneous splenic rupture.

Hodgkin's disease presenting as spontaneous splenic rupture is rare. A 46-year-old man with a 4-week history of fever, chills, and night sweats developed sudden abdominal pain and hypotension. At surgery, an enlarged, ruptured spleen with a nodular surface was found. Histologically, there was diffuse infiltration of the red pulp by mixed-cellularity Hodgkin's disease with patchy involvement of the white pulp. The histopathologic findings in the three previously reported cases are all dissimilar to this. These differences most likely represent rupture occurring at different stages of splenic infiltration by Hodgkin's disease.