Fine needle aspiration of focal liver lesions

Fourteen percutaneous fine needle aspirates (FNAs) of focal liver lesions performed under ultrasound guidance at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman, between January 1991 and October 1992, are presented. Ten of these were cytologically diagnosed as hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC). the patients' ages ranged from 50 to 70 years and eight of these were males. the important diagnostic cytological criteria of HCC were found to be increased nucleocytoplasmic (N/C) ratio, trabecular pattern, atypical naked nuclei, bile production by malignant hepatocytes and absence of bile duct epithelium. Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) positivity of bile canaliculi by cross-reaction with biliary glycoprotein I (BGP I) made possible the differentiation of HCC from metastases. We stress the importance of cell blocks as these often constitute microbiopsies. Ultrasound-guided FNA of focal liver lesions is recommended as a simple, easy and quick procedure.     

Fine Needle Aspiration Cytodiagnosis of Subacute (De Quervain's) Thyroiditis In an Endemic Goitre Area

Between 1977 and 1989 252 fine needle aspirates (FNAs) of the thyroid from patients with a clinical suspicion of subacute granulomatous (de Quervain's) thyroiditis were examined in the Department of Pathology of the University of Innsbruck, Austria. In the same period 31 cases with preoperative FNA were diagnosed histologically as subacute thyroiditis. Only in three of these cases were the cytological features of de Quervain's thyroiditis found in the preoperative FNA. However, in 13 of these 31 cases a cytological suspicion of malignancy was obtained. Subsequent histological examination revealed an acute phase inflammation of de Quervain's thyroiditis in most of these cases. We conclude that an accurate FNA diagnosis of de Quervain's thyroiditis, particularly in the acute stage, may cause difficulties due to a lack of typical features and the appearance of atypical thyroid follicular cells. For the cytopathologist, accurate clinical information relating to the possibility of de Quervain's thyroiditis is essential if unnecessary surgery is to be avoided.     

白暨豚的舌

在现代生存的四类淡水豚中,恒河豚(Platanista gangetica)和拉河豚(Pontoporia blain-villei)的舌已有详文报道(Arvy和Pilleri,1970;Yamasaki等,1976a)。亚河豚(Iniageoffrend)的舌也在Yamasaki的文章中作为和上述二种淡水豚舌的比较而述及。白暨豚(Liptes vexillifer)的舌除陈宜瑜等(1975)曾提及外,迄今未有其他报道。鉴此,作者对白暨豚的舌作了解剖学和组织学的观察,现将研究结果报告如下: 白暨豚舌的标本取自幼体、亚成体、成体和老年个体等七头个体。为了比较,还收集了亚河豚、其它海豚类和陆生哺乳类的舌。用10％甲醛固定保存,各项量度根据固定标本测量。白暨豚舌的外形描述以NNC 7909号标本为主,以其它个体的观察为辅。其组     

Analysis of coated pit recycling on human fibroblasts

The recycling to the cell surface of previously internalized coated pits has been proposed as a likely mechanism for the rapid regeneration of coated pits on human fibroblast surfaces at 37°C (1). We present a general mathematical model of coated pit recycling for the case when the coat cycles as a single unit, and use it to analyze certain time and temperature dependent data obtained by Anderson et al. (1) and Vermeer et al. (2). We show how recycling can account for these data and how this type of data can be used to distinguish between different possible recycling mechanisms. We show that these data are inconsistent with a two compartment model where coat material simply shuttles back and forth between coated pits and short-lived coated vesicles. From these data we estimate for human fibroblasts at 37°C: that the time for a coated pit to be replenished through recycling after it is lost through internalization is greater than 3.5 min; and that at any moment 53% or less of the cell’s clathrin that is involved in coated pit recycling is on the cell surface.     

Serum Estradiol 17β, Progesterone,and Relative Luteinizing Hormone Levels in Saimiri sciureus: Cyclic Variations and the Effect of Laparoscopy and Follicular Aspiration

With increasing use of the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) in reproductive studies, a precise knowledge of the hormonal variations within the cycle becomes essential for timing of ovulation. The frequent utilization of laparoscopy for follicle aspiration and oocyte recovery warrants analysis of hormonal alterations.     

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of mammary granular cell tumour: a report of three cases

This report describes the FNAC findings in three cases of granular cell tumour of the breast. The patients comprised two females aged 59 and 62 years and one male aged 28 years. All patients presented with a breast lump which was clinically and radiologically suspicious of malignancy. FNAs yielded moderately cellular specimens which on cytologic examipation consisted of groups of cells and single cells with small regular nuclei and abundant granular cytoplasm. Bare nuclei were also present but these did not have the characteristic bipolar appearance of myoepithelial cells. In two cases there was a granularity to the background. The aspirates were reported as equivocal or atypical, probably benign, and surgical biopsy was performed. Histological examination showed typical benign granular cell tumours with strong positive staining for S-100 protein. Pathologists should be aware that granular cell tumour may occur in or around the breast and should consider this diagnosis in aspirates containing a population of cells with regular nuclei and abundant granular cytoplasm. The main cytologic differential diagnoses are likely to be apocrine cells and histiocytes. The suspicion of a granular cell tumour should be heightened when these features are present in an aspirate from a clinically and radiologically suspicious mass. These cases highlight the role of the triple approach encompassing clinical, radiological and cytological features in the assessment of a breast lesion.     

Deep-seated rectal/anal basaloid carcinoma: useful immunocytochemistry in rare squamous cell carcinoma variants

Objectives:  To report the cytological aspects of ano-rectal basaloid carcinoma (BC) variant in endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) conventional and liquid-based cytology (LBC), in a series of 10 cases of deep-seated squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), and to discuss the diagnostic difficulties in interpreting the morphology and immunocytochemical findings.
Methods:  Ten cases of EUS-FNA smears and LBC specimens of deep-seated pelvic masses were retrospectively collected from January 2001 to November 2006.
Results:  Ten EUS-FNA specimen cases were SCC, eight corresponding to usual SCC and two to BC-variant. Of these two cases, only one was correctly diagnosed by EUS-FNA specimen, whereas in the second case, the initial cytological diagnosis was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and the final diagnosis of basaloid carcinoma variant was established on surgical resection. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) using CK7, CK20 and CK34βe12 on FNA specimens confirmed the diagnosis retrospectively.
Conclusion:  The diagnosis of basaloid variant of SCC in a rectal location can be very difficult, both on account of the uncommon location and because of the low specificity of morphological aspects on EUS-FNA smears. The immunocytochemical technique, including a limited spectrum of keratins (CK7, CK20, CK34βe12, and p63) is necessary to avoid this diagnostic pitfall.     

Elastic properties of the red blood cell membrane that determine echinocyte deformability

The natural biconcave shape of red blood cells (RBC) may be altered by injury or environmental conditions into a spiculated form (echinocyte). An analysis is presented of the effect of such a transformation on the resistance of RBC to entry into capillary sized cylindrical tubes. The analysis accounts for the elasticity of the membrane skeleton in dilation and shear, and the local and nonlocal resistance of the bilayer to bending, the latter corresponding to different area strains in the two leaflets of the bilayer. The shape transformation is assumed to be driven by the equilibrium area difference (A₀, the difference between the equilibrium areas of the bilayer leaflets), which also affects the energy of deformation. The cell shape is approximated by a parametric model. Shape parameters, skeleton shear deformation, and the skeleton density of deformed membrane relative to the skeleton density of undeformed membrane are obtained by minimization of the corresponding thermodynamic potential. Experimentally, A₀ is modified and the corresponding discocyte–echinocyte shape transition obtained by high-pressure aspiration into a narrow pipette, and the deformability of the resulting echinocyte is examined by whole cell aspiration into a larger pipette. We conclude that the deformability of the echinocyte can be accounted for by the mechanical behavior of the normal RBC membrane, where the equilibrium area difference A₀ is modified.