Small renal cell carcinoma accompanied by extensive inferior vena cava tumor thrombus diagnosed by percutaneous transvenous biopsy.

Introduction: Up to 10% of patients with renal cell carcinoma present with tumor thrombus in the inferior vena cava. We report that a case of small renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus extending above the diaphragm for which transvenous biopsy was performed for diagnosis. Case presentation: A 79-year-old man performed computed tomography to evaluate hepatic dysfunction, which revealed intravenous tumor extending above the diaphragm and a 15-mm-sized exophytic tumor in right kidney. Imaging suggested that the renal tumor was renal cell carcinoma. As this tumor was small and exophytic, confirmation of the intravenous tumor being tumor thrombus associated with renal cell carcinoma was difficult. We simultaneously performed transvenous biopsy on the intravenous tumor and percutaneous biopsy on the renal tumor for obtaining histologic diagnoses. The final diagnosis was small renal cell carcinoma accompanied by tumor thrombus above the diaphragm. Conclusion: Transvenous biopsy may be useful for the definitive diagnosis of inferior vena cava-tumor thrombus in cases of small renal cell carcinoma.

Histological Assessment of the Placenta Accreta Spectrum Diagnosed with a 33-MHz Linear Probe during Cesarean Section.

As placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) pathologies affect only the extremely thin tissues between the placenta and the uterine myometrium, superficial endometrial damage such as that caused by placenta creta and increta can be diagnosed only through histopathology. We performed direct uterine ultrasound of PAS using an ultrahigh frequency (33 MHz; i33LX9 Aplio i800) linear transducer. Here, we describe two cases with ultrasound images of placentas with PAS and a case without PAS to compare histological findings. In cases of PAS at the previous Cesarean scar, ultrasonography clearly revealed a thin uterine myometrium with some island-shaped sites where placental tissue was focally anchored to the uterine myometrium near the scar. Speckle blood flow pattern was absent at these sites during scanning with B-mode, but was detectable elsewhere. Histopathology samples from the same site revealed that villous tissue was directly attached to the uterine myometrium with a large area of infarction. In another case of diffuse PAS, speckle blood flow pattern was generally absent, and histopathology revealed deep fibrinoid deposits. We believe that histological evaluation following ultrasound use will improve the accuracy of ultrasound diagnosis and perinatal management of PAS in clinical practice.

Novel ultrasound assessment of placental pathological function using superb microvascular imaging.

Ultrasound Doppler method of Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) can significantly visualize low-velocity blood flow using a unique algorithm. We scanned placenta antenatally using SMI and compared those findings with histological findings after delivery in cases with placental abnormalities. In normal, SMI expresses stem villous vessels connecting to the tertiary villous vessels which are sharply diminished, and expresses intervillous blood flow as "scatter." Placental infarction was expressed as an anechoic area in SMI. Avascular villi was expressed as absent villous blood trees in a background scatter flow in SMI. In this report, we demonstrated typical SMI findings of the pathologic placenta as a pilot study.

Accuracy of Prenatal Ultrasound in Evaluating Placental Pathology Using Superb Microvascular Imaging: A Prospective Observation Study.

Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) is a new Doppler method that enables the visualization of low-velocity blood flow. The aim of the study described here was to clarify whether SMI can detect prenatal pathological findings in pathologic placentas. In this prospective diagnostic observational study, pregnant women who were admitted to our center for perinatal management were enrolled. Ultrasound examinations to identify placental pathologies using SMI were performed before delivery. After delivery, the placental tissue was clipped for microscopic examination at locations determined under ultrasound guidance. The accuracy of prenatal ultrasound detection of placental pathologies was compared between women who were admitted because of fetal growth restriction (FGR), pre-eclampsia and other indications. The highest accuracy was observed with placental infarction in FGR (positive predictive value = 100%, sensitivity = 89%, area under the curve = 0.945). As a result, it became clear that SMI can accurately detect placental pathologic findings, such as placental infarction and avascular villi. This modality may improve perinatal management in cases of placental dysfunction.

A case of an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor with distinctive histology in the pineal region in an adult patient.

A 31-year-old man suffered from headaches and presented at a hospital after the symptom worsened. Obstructive hydrocephalus and a pineal tumor were identified, and he was transferred to our hospital for further investigation and treatment. Cranial computed tomography revealed a hypodense mass lesion on the right of the pineal region, and calcifications and enlargement of the lateral and third cerebral ventricles were also evident. Blood tests were negative for all tumor markers. Laparoscopic biopsy and third-ventricle fenestration were performed that day as an emergency surgery to treat the obstructive hydrocephalus. Postoperative cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed a solid tumor that was hypointense on T1-weighted imaging, hyperintense on T2-weighted imaging, and heterogeneously enhanced by Gd. Subsequently, the tumor increased in size, and craniotomy and tumorectomy were performed. Histologically, the tumor proliferated as round or short spindle-shaped cells in a myxoid matrix, forming arrays that surrounded the blood vessels. As a few cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm were also present and immunostaining for INI-1 was negative, the patient was diagnosed with atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (AT/RT). AT/RT of the pineal region in adults is rare, and herein, we report the morphological characteristics of this case and reviewed the relevant literature.

Sono-embryological assessments of a true knot that developed into a hypercoiled cord and circumvallate placenta.

Longitudinal investigations using ultrasound during pregnancy can be used to clarify the mechanisms and pathophysiology of abnormal fetal and placental development. In this report, we presented a case of a true knot that appeared to develop into a hypercoiled cord and circumvallate placenta, which we found through longitudinal ultrasound investigations during pregnancy. In the present case, ultrasonography proved that the true knot had existed at least 16 weeks of gestation. The true knot was presumed to develop into a hypercoiled cord based on the hypothesis of differential umbilical vascular growth rates.

High-grade glioneuronal tumor with an ARHGEF2-NTRK1 fusion gene.

Here, we report a highly unusual case of high-grade glioneuronal tumor with a neurotrophic tropomyosin receptor kinase (NTRK) fusion gene. A 13-year-old girl presented with headache and vomiting and MRI detected two cystic lesions bilaterally in the frontal areas with surrounding edema. The left larger tumor was removed by left frontal craniotomy. The tumor was diagnosed as a high-grade glioneuronal tumor, unclassified. Methylation profiling classified it as a diffuse leptomeningeal glioneuronal tumor (DLGNT) with low confidence. This tumor showed genotypes frequently found in DLGNT such as 1p/19q codeletion without IDH mutation and, however, did not have the typical DLGNT clinical and histological features. RNA sequencing identified an ARHGEF2 (encoding Rho/Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor 2)-NTRK1 fusion gene. The presence of recurrent NTRK fusion in glioneuronal tumors has an important implication in the clinical decision making and opens up a possibility of novel targeted therapy.

The Significance of Lactate and Lipid Peaks for Predicting Primary Neuroepithelial Tumor Grade with Proton MR Spectroscopy.

PURPOSE: 1H-MRS is a non-invasive technique used to assess the metabolic activity of brain tumors. The technique is useful for the preoperative prediction of tumor grade, which is important for treatment planning and accurate prognosis. We used 1H-MRS to study the lactate peak, which appears in various conditions, including hyperglycemia, ischemia, and hypoxia and lipid peak, which is associated with necrotic cells. The purpose of this study was to retrospectively examine the frequency and significance of lactate and lipid peaks in relation to brain tumor grade. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-five patients diagnosed with neuroepithelial tumors of Grades I (3 cases), II (11 cases), III (15 cases), and IV (26 cases) were enrolled. Biopsies were excluded. Single voxel (TE = 144 ms) point resolved 1H-MRS spectroscopy sequences were retrospectively analyzed. An inverted doublet peak at 1.3 ppm was defined as lactate, a negative and positive peak was defined as combined lactate and lipid, and a clear upward peak was defined as lipid. RESULTS: Lactate peaks were detected in all grades of brain tumors and were least common in Grade II tumors (9.1%). The frequency of combined lactate-lipid peaks was 0% (Grades I and II), 8.3% (Grade III), and 44% (Grade IV). Grade IV tumors were significantly different to the other grades. There were three cases with a lipid peak. All were glioblastoma. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of a lac peak may be useful to largely rule out the Grade II tumors, and allow the subsequent differentiation of Grade I tumors from Grade III or IV tumors by conventional imaging. The presence of a lipid peak may be associated with Grade IV tumors.

Nuclear inverse polarity papillary lesions lacking myoepithelial cells: A report of two cases.

Here, cases of a 68- (Case 1) and a 44-year-old (Case 2) female are presented. They had an abnormality in the breast, and came to our hospital for further examination and treatment. Radiologically, malignancy could not completely excluded so breast excision was performed. Histologically, both cases revealed papillary neoplastic lesions lined by fibrovascular core and nuclear inverse polarity without atypia. Loss of myoepithelial cells was observed by HE, p63, and calponin. Previous report indicate CK5/6, ER, p63 and MUC3 are important for distinguishing between papillary lesions according to the differential index (based on Allred score) of ([ER total score] + [MUC3 total score])/([CK5/6 total score] + [p63 total score] + 1). Based on this analysis, our two cases had benign lesions. However, based on immunopositivity for cell-cycle marker Cyclin-D1, Case 1 was negative, and Case 2 was about 70% positive. Additionally, the Ki-67 index was <1% in both cases, and no evidence of disease was observed after a maximum 62 months of follow-up in both cases, despite lack of additional treatment. Thus, we propose that lack of myoepithelial cells in papillary lesions do not necessarily indicate malignancy and are thought to be, at the most, uncertain malignant potential.

Rhabdomyolysis in a Patient with Polyarteritis Nodosa.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a medium vessel vasculitis affecting systemic organs. Muscle involvement of PAN usually lacks elevation of creatinine kinase (CK). We herein report a case of PAN with rhabdomyolysis. A 71-year-old man was hospitalized because of muscle weakness of the lower limbs that persisted for 1 month. On a physical examination, rapidly progressive lower proximal muscle weakness and bilateral drop foot were observed. His blood test showed an elevation in the C-reactive protein (19.5 mg/dL) and CK (13,435 IU/L) levels and negativity for anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody. Computed tomographic angiography showed stenosis of the left renal artery. Electromyogram indicated mono-neuritis multiplex pattern, and enhanced magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated discretely granular hyperintensities on T2 and slow tau inversion recovery in his femoral muscles. A femoral muscle-biopsy specimen showed fibrinoid necrosis of medium-sized vessels and disruption of the elastic lamina of the vessel wall in fascia. Furthermore, muscle necrosis was localized depending on the arterial distribution, suggesting ischemic changes in the muscles. Given these findings, he was diagnosed with PAN with rhabdomyolysis and treated with methyl-prednisolone pulse therapy followed by oral prednisolone at 50 mg/day. He was additionally treated with monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide at 500 mg. Sustained remission has been obtained for two months since the treatment. Although rhabdomyolysis rarely manifests with PAN, it should be included in a differential diagnosis of febrile patients presenting with acute myalgia and weakness with CK elevation.

Effectiveness of computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) of breast pathology using immunohistochemistry results of core needle biopsy samples for synaptophysin, oestrogen receptor and CK14/p63 for classification of epithelial proliferative lesions of the breast.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to develop a computer-aided diagnosis (CADx) system for identifying breast pathology. METHODS: Two sets of 100 consecutive core needle biopsy (CNB) specimens were collected for test and validation studies. All 200 CNB specimens were stained with antibodies targeting oestrogen receptor (ER), synaptophysin and CK14/p63. All stained slides were scanned in a whole-slide imaging system and photographed. The photographs were analysed using software to identify the proportions of tumour cells that were positive and negative for each marker. In the test study, the cut-off values for synaptophysin (negative and positive) and CK14/p63 (negative and positive) were decided using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. For ER analysis, samples were divided into groups with <10% positive or >10% positive cells and decided using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Finally, these two groups categorised as ER-low, ER-intermediate (non-low and non-high) and ER-high groups. In the validation study, the second set of immunohistochemical slides were analysed using these cut-off values. RESULTS: The cut-off values for synaptophysin, <10% ER positive, >10% ER positive and CK14/p63 were 0.14%, 2.17%, 77.93% and 18.66%, respectively. The positive predictive value for malignancy (PPV) was 100% for synaptophysin-positive/ER-high/(CK14/p63)-any or synaptophysin-positive/ER-low/(CK14/p63)-any. The PPV was 25% for synaptophysin-positive/ER-intermediate/(CK14/p63)-positive. For synaptophysin-negative/(CK14/p63)-negative, the PPVs for ER-low, ER-intermediate and ER-high were 100%, 80.0% and 95.8%, respectively. The PPV was 4.5% for synaptophysin-negative/ER-intermediate/(CK14/p63)-positive. CONCLUSION: The CADx system was able to analyse sufficient data for all types of epithelial proliferative lesions of the breast including invasive breast cancer. This system may be useful for pathological diagnosis of breast CNB in routine investigations.

Steroid-resistant Tolosa-Hunt syndrome with a de novo intracavernous aneurysm: A case report.

BACKGROUND: We report a case of steroid-resistant Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS) with recurrent bilateral painful ophthalmoplegia, accompanied with sphenoid sinusitis, pituitary abscess, and an aneurysm arising from the cavernous portion of the internal carotid artery. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 53-year-old woman suffered severe left painful ophthalmoplegia. A magnetic resonance image (MRI) revealed thickness of the left cavernous sinus (CS). Steroid was administrated under the diagnosis of THS, and the symptom transiently diminished. However, painful ophthalmoplegia fluctuated bilaterally after tapering the steroid. An MRI showed development of bilateral cavernous lesions associated with sphenoid sinusitis, pituitary abscess, and an aneurysm in the left C4 segment. Biopsy and drainage of the lesions were performed with an endoscopic transsphenoidal procedure. The histological examination showed nonspecific granulomatous inflammation. The methotrexate (MTX) was effective to reduce the CS and pituitary lesions; however, the aneurysm slightly increased and remained unchanged in size thereafter. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a growing de novo C4 aneurysm in THS. Surgical intervention and administration of MTX should be attempted in steroid-resistant THS. Careful observation with serial MRI and MR angiography is important to manage the complicated THS.

A solitary pleural metastasis of benign giant cell tumor of bone.

Giant cell tumor of bone (GCTB) usually appears as a benign tumor. We describe an extremely rare case of a metastatic pleural tumor arising from a benign GCTB. The patient had undergone radial resection of a GCTB in his left wrist. After 6 years, he was sent to us for diagnosis of a large mass detected upon routine radiographic screening. We resected the tumor, which was found to be a solitary pleural metastasis of GCTB and had evidently spread arterially. To our knowledge, this is the first report of its kind.

Can synaptophysin be used as a marker of breast cancer diagnosed by core-needle biopsy in epithelial proliferative diseases of the breast?

The differential diagnosis of epithelial proliferative disease using core needle biopsy (CNB) is problematic because it is difficult to differentiate between intraductal papilloma, ductal hyperplasia, ductal carcinoma in situ, and invasive ductal carcinoma. Many studies have reported that breast cancer lesions are positive for neuroendocrine (NE) markers, whereas only a small number of studies have reported immunopositivity for NE markers in normal mammary tissues or benign lesions. We asked whether NE factors could be used as markers of breast cancer. We determined the immunopositivity rate of synaptophysin, an NE marker, in 204 lesions excised from the breast using CNB in patients who visited a university-affiliated comprehensive medical facility and examined whether synaptophysin is a marker of breast cancer. The specimens were classified as synaptophysin-negative cases (56 benign, 99 malignant); equivocal cases (<1 %: 2 benign, 15 malignant); and synaptophysin-positive cases (1 benign, 31 malignant). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value for malignancy of the lesions classified as synaptophysin positive were 23.3 %, 98.2 %, 96.9 %, and 36.1 %, respectively. The respective values for lesions classified as equivocal were 11.6 %, 96.6 %, 88.2 %, and 36.1 %. Synaptophysin may provide a marker of breast cancer diagnosed by CNB.

A case of refractory IgG4-related peripheral neuropathy with severe axonal damage.

A 78-year-old man presented complaining of tingling and pain. Neurological examination revealed dysesthesia and hypothermesthesia below both knees and areflexia in the lower extremities. Laboratory data revealed elevated serum levels of immunoglobulin IgG4 and para-aortic, and mesenteric lymphadenopathy was evident on plain computed tomography of the abdomen. Microscopic findings of a bone marrow biopsy specimen showed occlusion of blood vessels with IgG4-positive plasma cells. IgG4-related disease was diagnosed because the bone marrow biopsy exhibited > 10 IgG4-positive plasma cells per high-power field. Treatment was initiated with prednisolone starting at 30 mg/day, but no improvement in neurological symptoms was achieved. Sural nerve biopsy demonstrated obstructive thromboangiitis with severe loss of myelin and axons. Further investigations are needed to elucidate the relationship between obstructive thromboangiitis and steroid-resistant IgG4-related peripheral neuropathy.

Successful Preoperative Chemoembolization in the Treatment of a Giant Malignant Phyllodes Tumor.

The malignant phyllodes tumor is a relatively rare neoplasm and has not previously been a therapeutic target of interventional radiology. Herein, we report a successful case of preoperative chemoembolization of a giant malignant phyllodes tumor. The objective was to achieve sufficient tumor shrinkage before surgery to avoid the requirement for skin grafting after resection. Intra-arterial epirubicin infusion and subsequent embolization with Embosphere Microspheres (BioSphere Medical, Rockland, MA, USA) was undertaken three times over the course of 6 weeks and was well tolerated. The patient underwent surgery without skin grafting. Neither local recurrence nor distant metastasis was observed at 6 months after surgery.

A primary pulmonary glomus tumor: a case report and review of the literature.

A case of a glomus tumor originating from the lung is reported. A 43-year-old female had undergone resection of a right lung tumor following a clinical diagnosis of carcinoid, sclerosing hemangioma, or other sarcoma. Histologically, the tumor comprised uniform small round to oval cells with centrally located nucleus, a clear cytoplasm, and apparent cell borders. The tumor also showed a focally hemangiopericytomatous pattern with irregularly branching or dilated vessels. Electron microscopy revealed smooth muscle differentiation of the tumor cells. Immunostaining further revealed that the tumor cells expressed smooth muscle actin, h-caldesmon, muscle specific actin (HHF-35), but not cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen, synaptophysin, or chromogranin A. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of primary pulmonary glomus tumor was established. Glomus tumors of the lung are very rare and only 21 cases have been reported to date. The histological features of the present tumor and the relevant literature are discussed.

Increased occurrence of caspase-dependent apoptosis in unfavorable neuroblastomas.

Neuroblastoma frequently shows spontaneous regression in which two distinct types of programmed cell death, ie, caspase-dependent apoptosis and H-Ras-mediated autophagic degeneration, have been suggested to play a key role. The current study was conducted to determine which of these cell suicide pathways predominated in this tumor regression. Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining and immunostaining for H-Ras and for the full-length and cleaved forms of caspase-3, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), and lamin A were carried out on 55 archival tumor specimens. The incidence of caspase-dependent apoptosis in each tumor was quantified by cleaved lamin A staining and compared with clinicopathologic prognostic factors. Although a recent report has shown that neuroblastic cells undergoing autophagic degeneration were readily detectable by PAS and H-Ras staining, we could not confirm this result in any of our samples with the exception of one tumor. Instead, many of our neuroblastoma samples showed nonspecific PAS and Ras staining in areas of necrosis, suggesting that autophagic "degeneration" indeed corresponds to coagulation necrosis or oncosis. Unexpectedly, the incidence of caspase-dependent apoptosis was significantly correlated with indicators of a poor prognosis in these tumors, including Shimada's unfavorable histology, MYCN amplification, and a higher mitosis-karyorrhexis index, but not with factors related to tumor regression such as clinical stage and mass screening. These results indicate that neither caspase-dependent apoptosis nor autophagic "degeneration" may be involved in spontaneous neuroblastoma regression. This suggests that other mechanisms, perhaps such as tumor maturation, may be responsible for this phenomenon.