The sternalis muscle: an unusual normal finding seen on mammography.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the appearance of the sternalis muscle on mammography and on CT and MR imaging. To our knowledge, this is the first description of this normal anatomic variant. An approach is provided that permits differentiation of the sternalis from significant pathology. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Between January 1992 and December 1994, four women of an estimated 32,000 who had mammograms at the Massachusetts General Hospital had an unusual, irregular structure visible medially on the craniocaudal projection that posed a diagnostic dilemma. The records and imaging studies of these women and two others from the Deaconess Hospital breast imaging program were reviewed to determine the etiology of the findings seen by mammography and to establish a diagnostic approach. RESULTS: Surgery in one patient and cross-sectional imaging in the other five established that the structure was the sternalis muscle. Although it may be bilateral, the sternalis muscle was visible only unilaterally on the mammograms of these six women. The appearance of the muscle ranged from an irregularly rounded density at the sternal edge of the film to flame-shaped and almost completely surrounded by fat. CT and MR imaging are diagnostic when they show the longitudinal extent of the muscle, which lies anterior to the medial margin of the pectoralis major muscle. CONCLUSION: The sternalis muscle is an unusual variant of the chest wall musculature. It may be visible as a rounded or irregular density on the craniocaudal mammogram along the sternal edge of the film. With improved mammographic positioning it will be seen more frequently. The muscle has a variety of appearances that should be familiar to the radiologist to avoid confusion with a malignant lesion. The etiology can be confirmed and cancer excluded by CT or MR imaging.

A simple device to assist in needle positioning procedures.

At breast biopsy, use of a simple disk that fits into the hub of the needle can facilitate accurate placement of the needle with conventional lesion localization techniques. This disk forms a surface onto which the shadows of the localization crosshairs project so that the operator can advance the needle and maintain its alignment in the direction of the mammography beam by using the field light. The insert has been used successfully in more than 100 procedures.

Correct positioning for cardiac angiography: insights from MRI.

The recommended angiographic projections for optimally demonstrating various cardiac structures vary, and do not always achieve their aim. To determine the most appropriate radiographic projections to optimally demonstrate cardiac structures, we reviewed the orientations of major cardiac structures and the associated great vessels, as demonstrated by axial MRI. Measurements were made from 187 MRI examinations of the heart. These measurements confirmed that the optimum angiographic projections for various cardiac structures are at variance with a number of the recommended views. Recommendations for the angiographic projections most likely to provide optimum display of various cardiac structures and associated great vessels in different patient populations are presented.

KLE: a cell line with defective estrogen receptor derived from undifferentiated endometrial cancer.

KLE is a cell line derived from a poorly differentiated endometrial carcinoma that is aneuploid with chromosome numbers ranging from 51 to 66 and 6-8 marker chromosomes demonstrated by G banding. Tumors harvested from five of five nude mice bearing an inoculum for more than a month resemble the original specimen, and electron microscopy shows microvilli, many junctional processes, glycogenation, and a prominent nucleolonema. The cell cytosol contains a specific binder for estradiol, but there is no estrogen receptor in the nucleus and in a study reported elsewhere (Raam et al., Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 2, 277 (1982) ) translocation to the nucleus fails to occur. The enzyme phenotype of this cell is human, non-HeLa.

Gene expression during mammalian spermatogenesis. II. Evidence for stage-specific differences in mRNA populations.

Gene expression during murine spermatogenesis has been studied using highly enriched populations of cells obtained by velocity sedimentation at unit gravity and further purified by density gradient centrifugation through Percoll. Polypeptides whose synthesis was directed by total cytoplasmic RNA from round spermatids, pachytene spermatocytes, primitive type A spermatogonia, and Sertoli cells in cell-free translation systems have been compared by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, followed by fluorography. At the level of detection provided by the electrophoretic methods used, each population of cells contained mRNAs encoding over 200 polypeptides, many of which were present in high abundance in all four cell types. However, for each cell type examined, a minimum of 5-10% of these polypeptides appear to be either specific to or greatly enriched within a particular cell type. Analysis of the polysomal and nonpolysomal cell fractions from pachytene spermatocytes and round spermatids revealed that the two compartments share many identical mRNAs but specific mRNAs are selectively compartmentalized between the cell fractions and between the two cell types. Movement between compartments was seen; e.g., some polypeptides encoded by mRNA found primarily in the nonpolysomal fraction of pachytene cells were later seen in the polysomal fraction from round spermatids. Virtually every other combination was also observed. These results suggest that the control of gene expression at the level of selective production of mRNA and selective utilization of mRNA are among the mechanisms involved in regulation of spermatogenic cell differentiation.