The interhemal membrane of the spotted hyena: an immunohistochemical reappraisal.

On the basis of specific immunohistochemical staining for vimentin and cytokeratin, we conclude that in the mature placenta of the spotted hyena the interhemal membrane is haemomonochorial rather than endotheliochorial, as in other carnivores. We concur that the intrasyncytial laminae are remnants of the maternal endothelial basal lamina.

Relative prognostic significance of DNA flow cytometry and histologic grading in endometrial carcinoma.

Flow cytometric analyses of the DNA content of neoplastic cells were performed in 60 cases of endometrial carcinoma using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. Each tumor was graded histologically prior to flow cytometry. Aneuploidy was found in almost half of the tumors, including those of moderate and high degrees of differentiation, although the poorly differentiated tumors were more commonly aneuploid. The cytometric and histologic results were then compared with prognosis (5-year survival). In general, survival was greater with diploid than with aneuploid tumors. With well-differentiated tumors, patients with both diploid and aneuploid lesions had a favorable prognosis, but with moderately and poorly differentiated tumors those with diploidy had a more favorable prognosis than those with aneuploidy. We conclude that flow cytometry is of principal prognostic value in poorly differentiated endometrial carcinomas.

High-dose mitomycin-C with autologous bone marrow transplantation in patients with refractory malignancies. Influence of dose schedule on pharmacokinetics and nonhematopoietic toxicities.

Thirteen courses of high-dose mitomycin-C with autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) were administered to 12 patients. Four dose schedules were evaluated: A) 60 mg/M2 X 1, 60-min infusion; B) 30 mg/M2/day X 2, 15-min infusion; C) 30 mg/M2/day X 2, 60-min infusion; D) 15 mg/M2/day X 4, 60-min infusion. Pharmacokinetic studies using HPLC technique were done in nine patients. All patients have since died and autopsies were performed in nine patients. Two major nonhematopoietic toxicities were encountered and were dose-schedule dependent: hemorrhagic colitis (six of six courses in Schedules A and B; two of seven in Schedules C and D), and hepatic dysfunction (five of six in Schedules A and B; two of seven in Schedules C and D). Histopathologic evidence of venocclusive disease of the liver was present in four of five autopsies in Schedules A and B, and two of four in Schedules C and D. One patient died as a result of liver failure associated with submassive hepatic necrosis. Saturation kinetics described by other investigators cannot be confirmed by our pharmacokinetic analyses in nine patients. Severe nonhematopoietic toxicities of mitomycin-C were found at three times the conventional dose; thus, this drug is assessed as not being clinically useful as a single agent in ABMT.

Primary leptomeningeal gliomatosis: symptoms suggestive of meningitis.

Gliomas that arise primarily in the leptomeninges are rare. Of the 15 reported cases of primary leptomeningeal glioma, only two diffusely involved the leptomeninges. We report the third case of primary leptomeningeal gliomatosis, this in a 55-year-old man who died three months after the onset of symptoms. The clinical manifestations, CSF findings, and the gross appearance of the brain resembled meningitis rather than neoplasm. Results of cytologic examinations of the CSF were normal and the diagnosis was made at necropsy. The diffuse form of primary leptomeningeal glioma has a shorter clinical course and poorer prognosis than the solitary form. Primary leptomeningeal gliomas are believed to arise from heterotopic neuroglial tissue in the leptomeninges.