Ulcerative tracheobronchitis years after colectomy for ulcerative colitis.

Two men with severe ulcerative colitis developed ulcerative tracheobronchitis 4 and 8 years after total colectomy. Intense plasma cell infiltration of tracheal mucosa and submucosa and destruction of mucous glands occurred, with partial relief of symptoms with corticosteroids. We compare them with the only other case reported, also years after colectomy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy without hypertrophy: two families with myocardial disarray in the absence of increased myocardial mass.

Two families are described in which individuals showed widespread myocardial disarray at histological examination, in the absence of macroscopic cardiac hypertrophy. In one family the clinical presentation was that of sudden unexpected cardiac death in four family members; members of the other family presented with electrocardiographic repolarisation changes and abnormalities of left ventricular diastolic function. The finding of myocardial disarray, the characteristic histological abnormality of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, in the absence of increased cardiac mass suggests a wider range of abnormality in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy than is currently recognised.

Penicillamine nephropathy.

8 patients who developed proteinuria whilst receiving penicillamine for rheumatoid arthritis have been studied. Light microscopy of renal biopsy specimens showed evidence of an extramembranous nephropathy in 6 cases, with epimembranous spikes infrequently described previously in association with penicillamine.

A quantitative microscopical study of tumour cell nuclei in lymphatic metastasis, using a Quantimet.

The projected areas of nuclei of tumour cells in experimental and human tumours have been measured with a Quantimet. In nearly all the specimens examined the nuclei in the lymph node metastasis, and the nuclei in the site from which metastasis had occurred, were similar in size. In one case of human breast cancer, nuclei in the axillary nodal metastasis were twice as large as those in the mammary primary. In another case of human breast cancer a few very large nuclei were seen only in the mammary primary.

The fine structure of neoplastic invasion: invasion of liver, skeletal muscle and lymphatic vessels by the Rd/3 tumour.

Neoplastic invasion as seen in the rat Rd/3 neoplasm has been studied electron microscopically in three sites: abdominal wall, footpad and liver. This neoplasm invades by peripheral cell division and active cell migration. Neoplastic cells protrude many fine processes and compress host cells. Neoplastic cells invade lymphatic vessels in a way similar to that in which white blood cells penetrate them - by the protrusion of fine cytoplasmic processes and passage, sometimes in clumps through open cell junctions. There is no ultrastructural evidence of secretory phenomena.

The significance of enzyme histochemical patterns in carcinomas of the large intestine in man.

The activities of 13 enzymes in 40 carcinomas of the large bowel have been studied using histochemical techniques. Five enzymes-non-specific esterase, monoamine oxidase, succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase, and acid phosphatase-commonly show much less activity in the tumours than in adjacent normal colon. The tumours have been classified based upon the number of enzymes which show marked reduction in activity in each tumour (types 1-5). The enzyme histochemical type and the size of the tumours have been jointly correlated with the presence of lymph node metastasis. Small type 1 or 2 tumours do not appear to be associated with metastatic disease. Small type 5 tumours were commonly associated with secondary carcinoma in the lymph nodes. Large tumours (greater than 25 sq cm surface area) of any histochemical type were frequently associated with lymph node metastasis. Discussion of the possible reasons for these findings and their clinical significance is presented.