Comparative microscopic study of the ovarian blood vessels.

The present study puts forth the morphometric analysis of modifications that occur in the ovarian structures (stroma, parenchyma, blood vessels) before and after menopause onset. Our study was performed on 30 human ovary specimens from patients with no history of genital pathology that were split in two groups (15 ovaries harvested from fertile women and 15 ovaries harvested from women at menopause). The specimens were processed following the classic histological technique of paraffin embedding and stained using Hematoxylin-Eosin technique and trichromic Goldner-Szeckelly technique. The samples were examined and assessed using Nikon E-600 light microscope. The images captured by computer were processed using LUCIA G 4.10 software. To evaluate the histological modifications, we chose the following parameters: Area Fraction of blood vessels and Circularity of blood vessels. The study shows that modifications of the ovary components are synchronized. The vascular changes that occur after menopause onset lead to a poor vascular supply of all ovarian components: germinal epithelium, ovarian follicles and ovarian stroma. The comparative morphometric analysis on premenopause and postmenopause ovarian specimens sustains the idea that the ovarian involution starts from the ovarian vessels, which are the first structures affected by hyaline degeneration.

Cerebellar atrophy--a comparative microscopic study.

The cerebellum is required for the coordination of fine movement. In health, it provides corrections during motion which are the basis for precision and accuracy, and it is critically involved in motor learning and reflex modification. Disease of the cerebellum or its connections leads to incoordination. The study puts forth the morphometric study of cerebellum cortex and of the modifications that occur at this level during cerebellar atrophy. Our research used routine histological methods, but also special methods, adequate to the studied cerebellar cortex (silver impregnation), in order to observe the characteristic structures of the organ. We used comparative morphometric methods in order to gather data about the structural changes that occur in the cerebellar cortex during cerebellar atrophy. In order to analyze the histological modifications we determined the following parameters: thickness of the cerebellar cortex--is a derived feature appropriate for elongated or thin structures, area fraction of the molecular layer in the cerebellar cortex, number of Purkinje neurons per microscopic field and area fraction of the blood vessels per microscopic field. The reference microscopic field has an area of 280.000 microm2. Observations and conclusions that arose from this study may represent a contribution to the theoretical knowledge on which the medical practice is based.