Eruption cysts: a clinical report of 24 new cases.

The eruption cyst (EC) occurs within the mucosa overlying a tooth that is about to erupt. In the past EC was considered a type of dentigerous cyst (DC) occuring in the soft tissues. Twenty four patients (mean age 4.44 years, range 1.0 month-12 years) with EC were diagnosed and treated. EC was associated with natal teeth in two (8.3%) cases, with primary teeth in 10 (41.6%) cases and with permanent teeth in 12 (50%) cases. There was a gender predilection, the male to female ratio was 2:1. The primary mandibular central incisors and the permanent first molars were the most common site affected. The clinical appearance was a raised, bluish gingival mass on the alveolar ridge. The size was variable and dependent on the size and number of the associated teeth. The type of treatment provided was one of the following: no treatment (10 cases, 42%), extraction (2 cases, 8%) and marsupialization (12 cases, 50%). All surgical specimens underwent histopathologic examination. EC should be recognized as a separate entity from DC and a conservative treatment approach is recommended.

Diagnostic potential of Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy and advanced computational methods in colon cancer patients.

Colon cancer is the third leading class of cancer causing increased mortality in developed countries. A polyp is one type of lesion observed in a majority of colon cancer patients. Here, we report a microscopic Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) study of normal, adenomatous polyp and malignant cells from biopsies of 24 patients. The goal of our study was to differentiate an adenomatous polyp from a malignant cell using FTIR microspectroscopy and artificial neural network (ANN) analysis. FTIR spectra and biological markers such as phosphate, RNA/DNA derived from spectra, were useful in identifying normal cells from abnormal ones that consisted of adenomatous polyp and malignant cells. However, the biological markers failed to differentiate between adenomatous polyp and malignant cases. By employing a combination of wavelet features and an ANN based classifier, we were able to classify the different cells as normal, adenomatous polyp and cancerous in a given tissue sample. The percentage of success of classification was 89%, 81%, and 83% for normal, adenomatous polyp, and malignant cells, respectively. A comparison of the method proposed with the pathological method is also discussed.

Spectroscopic evidence for site-specific cellular activity in the tubular gland in human intestine.

The intestinal crypts contain mucus-secreting goblet cells in large numbers. In the tubular gland (crypt), the cells are generated at the bottom and end their life cycle at the top. Recently, FTIR microspectroscopy (FTIR-MC) has been applied in biology and medicine. The characterization of various cellular types using FTIR-MC and its subsequent application for the diagnosis of cancer is becoming a reality. In this report, we investigate the differential cellular activity in the normal tubular gland using FTIR-MC. Our results indicate that the absorbance for the cells in the bottom of the crypt is always higher than those in the upper portion. There are spectral pattern changes and frequency shifts for cells at the bottom and top sites of the normal crypt. Also, the comparison of a normal crypt with a malignant one has been made. This is the first spectroscopic evidence in the literature showing the difference in the cellular activity at different sites in the tubular gland. The reasons for our observations and their implications are discussed.