Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology
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Historical Article
Pancreatic diseases past and present: a historical examination of exhibition specimens from the Collectio Rokitansky in Vienna.
The Viennese collection of pathological specimens (Collectio Rokitansky) comprises a large number of objects from all fields of pathological anatomy and is one of the largest historical collections in the entire world. We reviewed the original diagnoses in a series of pancreatic specimens using modern histopathological techniques. It was found that the histological structure of eleven pancreatic specimens was surprisingly well preserved. ⋯ The application of immunohistochemical methods failed. In conclusion, the surprisingly well-preserved exhibits from the Collectio Rokitansky, which have been on display for more than 100 years, are accessible to modern histopathological investigation without the use of immunohistochemical techniques. Such examinations allow us to assess the occurrence of diseases and tumours in the sociocultural environment of the 19th century.
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Chordoma is a relatively rare malignant bone tumor thought to arise from the remnants of the fetal notochord. Chordomas express epithelial cell markers such as cytokeratin and epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), which strongly suggests that the tumor cells grow via the mechanism of epithelial characterized cell-cell interactions. However, there are no known reports that have studied epithelial characterized cell-adhesion molecules such as E-cadherin or epithelial cell adhesion molecule (Ep-CAM) in chordomas. ⋯ Although no Ep-CAM expression was noted, E-cadherin was detected in most chordoma cells irrespective of histological subtypes. The expression of E-cadherin was negative among chondrosarcoma cells in this study as previously reported, and thus constant E-cadherin expression of chordoma cells suggests a role as a useful diagnostic marker to distinguish chondroid chordoma from chondrosarcoma. Furthermore, we speculate that E-cadherin may play a role in tumor cell adhesion and is also involved with histological and clinical features in chordomas.
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We report the case of a 55-year-old man who developed heparin-induced thrombocytopenia II after a vertebral fracture. Autopsy revealed segmental hepatic vein thrombosis of the right lobe with subacute congestion and an activation of hepatic stellate cells. This case shows that heparin-induced thrombocytopenia II is a possible cause of the Budd-Chiari syndrome.
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The differentiation between benign and malignant cystic lesions of the kidney is a diagnostic challenge. Medical imaging aids in this task, but many cystic renal lesions require further work-up, frequently by computed tomography-guided fine needle aspiration. ⋯ In the case of this lesion, the distinction between a benign and a malignant renal cyst is blurred. To our knowledge, this is the third such occurrence to be reported and the first to be diagnosed by fine needle aspiration biopsy.