[Urease test for rapid demonstration of Helicobacter pylori in biopsies from the pyloric antrum]. / Ureasetest til hurtig påvisning af Helicobacter pylori i biopsier fra antrum ventriculi.

Helicobacter pylori (HP) is an important etiological factor in chronic gastritis and duodenal ulceration. Demonstration of HP by means of culture and histological examination is relatively time-consuming. The object of this investigation was to assess the validity of two rapidly read chemical tests: the buffered urease reagent (BR) and the unbuffered urease reagent (UBR) in demonstration of HP among patients referred for gastroscopy on account of upper abdominal dyspepsia. In 230 sets of biopsies investigated for HP by culture and histology, the following results were obtained by reading of the BR test three hours later at room temperature: Nosographic sensitivity 0.54, nosographic specificity 0.97, PVpos 0.93 and PVneg 0.71. In another material consisting of 57 sets of biopsies, both BR and UBR were performed. Reading of UBR after 15 minutes yielded the following results: Nosographic sensitivity 0.56, nosographic specificity 1.00, PVpos 1.00 and PVneg 0.61. It is concluded that positive results of the urease tests indicate the presence of HP. If the urease tests are negative, supplementary culture and/or histological examination for HP should be performed. UBR is preferable rather than BR.

Distribution of Campylobacter pylori in dyspeptic and non-dyspeptic gastroenterologic patients.

The presence of Campylobacter pylori (Cp) in antral biopsies from patients undergoing routine gastroscopy or ERCP was determined by microbiological and histological methods and correlated to the histopathology. 322 endoscopies were performed. Of 125 Cp positives only one did not present with histopathological evidence of gastritis. In patients with gastritis the percentage positive for Cp was highest (88.6) in severe gastritis. We also found a highly significant correlation of Cp to all types of ulcers. There was good agreement between microbiologically and histologically demonstrated Cp. Our findings were in agreement with previously published reports.

A comparison between clinical diagnosis and histopathological findings in liver biopsies.

In 70 consecutive patients the histopathological diagnosis of needle liver biopsy specimens and the clinical diagnosis were compared. The patients were divided into the following groups: alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis, malignancy, cholestasis, and miscellaneous. Nearly half of the cases were alcohol-induced; all of these showed changes in the specimens consistent with an elevated alcohol consumption, but their histopathological 'severity' did not correlate with the amount of alcohol consumption. In the hepatitis group three cases of acute viral hepatitis gave identical clinical and histopathological diagnoses. The malignancy group showed that in five of eight cases the needle biopsy specimen confirmed the clinical suspicion of malignant tumour in the liver. The histopathological diagnoses of the miscellaneous group were not able to add further information to the clinical findings because of unspecific lesions in the specimens. Two specimens were taken from each patient, and the 'reproducibility' of the histopathological diagnoses of the interdependent specimens showed a high degree of agreement: 71% of the biopsy pairs had identical diagnoses of the two specimens from the same patients, and 12% of the biopsy pairs had only small differences between the two diagnoses.

Infantile vaginal tumour with alpha-fetoprotein synghesis.

A 17-month-old girl with a vaginal embryonal carcinoma (germ cell tumour) is reported. Alpha-fetoprtoein (AFP) was elevated before treatment in blood and vaginal fluid. Normal levels of AFP in blood and vaginal fluid were found after radiation and comination chemotherapy. By an indirect immunoperoxidase staining AFP was demonstrated in tumour tissue. 24-month-old local recurrence was preceded by a slight increase in serum AFP, and AFP could also be demonstrated in vaginal fluid and vaginal smears.

The variation of pathological changes in the liver evaluated by double biopsies.

In two simultaneously-taken needle biopsies of the liver from 70 consecutive patients, a number of changes were evaluated semiquantitatively and compared in n x m tables. The lesions examined were steatosis, Mallory's hyalin, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis and cholestasis; furthermore the size, amount of inflammatory cells, connective tissue and bile-duct proliferation of the portal tracts and finally focal necroses and acidophilic bodies in the lobules were recorded. Cirrhosis, cholestasis and steatosis showed a high correlation, while the agreement between the two interdependent biopsies, especially concerning acidophilic bodies and bile-duct proliferation, was low. Possible reasons for the variation in the agreement of the lesions are discussed.

Prolongation of xenograft survival by infusion of heterologous antibodies against recipient serum.

Survival or renal xenografts from rabbit to cat has been prolonged by several hours by injection of antibodies against cat serum into the recipient. In control experiments the transplanted rabbit kidney was rejected by the cat in a few minutes.