Cytogenetic and proliferative potentials in meningiomas.

Cytogenetic analysis and Ki-67 staining index (SI) were performed on the series of 51 meningiomas, to estimate the relationship between the extent of chromosomal changes and the growth potential of tumors. The tumors were classified according to histological subtype (22 meningiotheliomatous, 15 transitional, 12 fibroblastic and 2 angiomatous) and grade (40 benign, 5 atypical and 6 malignant ones). There was no significant difference in the complexity of chromosomal changes among the histologically distinct tumor subtypes. In contrast, there was a significant association between the number of chromosomal abnormalities and tumor grade. Normal karyotypes were found in 50% and complex in 20% of benign tumors. All grade II or III tumors revealed complex karotype. The tumors classified as benign revealed significantly lower mean Ki-67 SI than atypical or malignant ones (1.6%, 7.4% and 14.7%, respectively). However, within tumors classified as benign, mean Ki-67 SI of these with normal or simple karyotypic changes did not differ significantly from those with complex karyotype (1.6% and 0.9%, respectively). Thus, the extent of genome abnormalities in meningiomas, measured on the chromosomal level, does not relate directly to their proliferative potential.

[A case of multiple myeloma with an aggressive course and multiorgan plasmocytic involvement]. / Przypadek szpiczaka mnogiego o agresywnym przebiegu z wielonarzadowym naciekiem plazmatycznym.

A 51 year old female patient has been diagnosed for IgG lambda multiple myeloma. In spite of treatment an aggressive course of the disease has been observed. The autopsy revealed multiorgan plasmocytic infiltrates.

Hepatocellular carcinoma in young patients: histology, cellular differentiation, HBV infection and oncoprotein p53.

The study of 226 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a homogenous rural Southern African population is based on the assessment of histology, HBV infection, p53 oncoprotein and transforming growth factor alpha (TGFa) expression. Epidemiological and morphological observations were compared to HCC observed in 89 cases from pathological files in Poland and published information from Japan and Italy. Comparatively high number of young patients with HCC in Africa presented high rates of HBV infection, p53 oncoprotein overexpression and high HBsAg/p53 correlation rates. In all patients histological grading of HCC was inversely related to p53 and TGFa expression. No significant differences in histological grading of HCC and patients' mean age were noted between various population groups. The association of hepatic cirrhosis was at least twice as common in non-African patients, whereas iron overload was noted almost exclusively in African patients livers. Signs of HBV infection were lowest in Japanese female patients. The mechanism by which early HBV infection contributes to hepatocarcinogenesis at an early stage of life is confirmed by epidemiological observations in Poland and by the clear association of p53 gene with HBsAg and the age of patients.

Antiphospholipid syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus--immunomorphological study of the central nervous system; case report.

We present a case of a 44-year-old female with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with secondary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The patient died in the 15th year of the disease. The paraffin sections of the brain and spinal cord were examined using routine histological methods and immunohistochemistry with monoclonal antibodies against CD31, FVIIIAg and polyclonal antibodies IgG, fibrinogen and C3. Numerous thrombi-recent, organized and recanalized and focal vasculitis were seen. The immunopositive reaction in thickened vessel walls for CD31 and FVIIIAg indicated the process of the local incorporation of the thrombi. The immunoreactivity for fibrinogen, IgG and C3 suggests the immunological complexes formation in vessel walls, perivascular astrocytes and neurons.