Toxicological investigations in the semiconductor industry: II. Studies on the subacute inhalation toxicity and genotoxicity of gaseous waste products from the aluminum plasma etching process.

Male and female Wistar rats were exposed to waste gas arising from a plasma etching process in the semiconductor industries for six hr per day, five days per week, for four weeks in order to characterize subacute organ toxicity and genotoxicity. The waste gas was a complex mixture of different chlorinated hydrocarbons, inorganic by-products, and unused process gases, diluted by room air. Neither death nor behavioral changes occurred after subacute exposure. No significant exposure-related effects on body weight gain, hematology, or cardiovascular parameters were observed. Only slight effects on organ weights and clinical chemistry were seen in the exposed animals. The exposed rats of both sexes showed statistically significant increases in chromosomal aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges in bone marrow cells.

Toxicological investigations in the semiconductor industry: I. Studies on the acute oral toxicity of a complex mixture of waste products from the aluminium plasma etching process.

In dry etching processes--one of the sources of potential exposure to toxic wastes in the semiconductor industry--complex mixtures of inorganic and organic compounds arise from reactions between feed stock gases (BCl3/Cl2), top layers (aluminium photoresist), and the carrier gas (N2). Two different fractions of the complex mixture--one an ethanolic solution (ES) and the other an insoluble liquid residue (LR)--were examined for acute oral toxicity in rats. Analytical data showed that the ethanol soluble fraction contained mainly inorganic compounds, whereas the residue contained various halogenated hydrocarbons. Neither death nor behavioral changes occurred after oral administration and observation up to 23 days. ES caused a lower mean arterial blood pressure in both sexes, increased P-R-intervals in male rats, and caused some mild biochemical and hematological alterations and changes in relative organ weights compared to the control groups. Exposure to LR influenced food and water intake, and caused a significant decrease in body weights, signs of polyurie, as well as changes in various relative organ weights and biochemical and hematological parameters. The blood pressure of the male animals fell and the heart rates of both sexes decreased.

[A rare complication of shunt therapy. Metastasis of brain tumors by cerebrospinal fluid drainage]. / Seltene Komplikation der Shunttherapie. Metastasierung von Hirntumoren durch Liquordrainagen.

Shunting of cerebrospinal fluid to extracranial spaces has been a common and effective procedure for symptomatic therapy of hydrocephalus since the fifties. In 1954 the first spreading of tumor cells via a ventriculo-pleural shunt was reported. We are presenting a case of a 10 month old girl with a medulloblastoma of the lower brain stem with spreading of the intracranial tumor through a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. Further 43 cases of the world literature with shunt-associated metastasizing of brain tumors are analysed. The extraneural spreading of tumor cells through shunt tubes must be considered as a possible complication of the shunting procedure.

[Subcutaneous metastasis of an atrial myxoma? Case report and literature review]. / Subkutane Metastasen eines Vorhofmyxoms? Fallbericht und Literaturübersicht.

A 25 year old woman developed 2 subcutaneous myxomas one month after removal of an atrial myxoma. The pathogenesis of this event is discussed. Special attention was given to distinction between true myxomas and myxoid sarcomas as well as to myxomatous diathesis, caused by a widespread, genetically determined specific abnormality of certain mesenchymal cells (Swiss-syndrome). With all aspects considered, this appears to be the best interpretation of the case under review.