BACKGROUND: The goal of this prospective study was to determine the frequency of micrometastases in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity, pharynx and larynx in whom elective neck dissection was indicated (cN0). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 12 patients (10 males and 2 females) were enrolled in the study. The age ranged 42-73 years (median 62 years). Elective neck dissection was performed in all patients (8 ipsilateral, 4 bilateral) and a total of 256 lymph nodes were removed and sent for microscopic examination. RESULTS: The presence of tumor cells in cervical lymph nodes was found in 5/12 (42%) patients. Micrometastases of SCC were found in two patients and isolated tumor cells (ITC) in two other patients. In the remaining one patient with oropharyngeal SCC, a micrometastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) was detected. Positive lymph nodes were localized in level II in three patients with SCC of larynx, hypopharynx and tongue base, respectively, in level I in one patient with SCC of oral tongue and in level III in one patient with PTC. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that SCC of head and neck has a high potential for creating micrometastases which frequency is higher compared to clinically detected macrometastases. Therefore, elective neck dissection or radiotherapy of the neck should be considered in patients with high risk of occult metastases or micrometastases. and P. Čelakovský, D. Kalfeřt, K. Smatanová, V. Chrobok, J. Laco
Úvod: Byly srovnány dvě různé metody izoelektrické fokusace v agarosovém gelu pro detekci oligoklonálních IgG pásů v likvoru a séru: komerční metoda s imunofixací (Sebia) a „home-made“ metoda s použitím přístroje Multiphor II následovaná afinitním imunoblottingem. Byla posouzena shoda mezi metodami i hodnotícími, pokud jde o přítomnost intrathékální syntézy IgG, zařazení nálezu do jednoho z pěti typů podle mezinárodní klasifikace, počet intrathékálně syntezovaných IgG pásů a počet pásů v likvoru a v séru. Výsledky: Pro posouzení shody jsme použili statistiku kappa. Pokud jde o přítomnost intrathékální syntézy IgG, byla shoda velmi dobrá (kappa 0,870 až 1,000 mezi metodami a 0,947 a 0,920 mezi hodnotícími, což představuje 0 až 5 neshodně hodnocených nálezů z celkového počtu 114). V zařazení nálezu do jednoho z pěti typů podle mezinárodní klasifikace byla shoda méně vyjádřená (kappa 0,389 až 0,596 mezi metodami); při použití „home-made“ metody byla shoda mezi hodnotícími horší (kappa 0,478) než v případě komerční imunofixační metody (kappa 0,791). Shoda v počtu intrathékálně syntezovaných IgG pásů byla jen mírná, shoda v počtu oligoklonálních IgG pásů v likvoru a v séru byla slabá. Závěry: Oběma metodami lze spolehlivě detekovat oligoklonální IgG a metody lze považovat za rovnocenné. Pro klasifikaci typu nálezu však byla shoda mezi hodnotícími lepší při použití komerční imunofixační metody. Poměrně špatná reprodukovatelnost počítání oligoklonálních IgG pásů by měla být známa klinickým lékařům, protože porovnávání počtu pásů s sebou přináší potenciální riziko zavádějících interpretací., Background: We compared two different agarose isoelectric focusing methods for detection of oligoclonal IgG bands in cerebrospinal fluid and serum: commercial method with immunofixation (Sebia) and home-made method using Multiphor II apparatus followed by affinity immunoblotting. Interobserver agreement for both methods was tested concerning the presence of intrathecal IgG synthesis, the detailed isoelectric focusing pattern type, the number of CSF-restricted oligoclonal IgG bands, and the number of oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF and in serum. Findings: Using kappa statistics for evaluation of agreement, we found there was very good agreement concerning the presence of intrathecal IgG synthesis (kappa 0.870 to 1.000 between methods, and 0.947 and 0.920 between observers, respectively, representing 0 to 5 out of 114 samples classified differently). The agreement was less pronounced when international consensus classification of isoelectric focusing patterns into 5 different types was taken into account (kappa 0.389 to 0.596 between methods); using home-made method, the interobserver agreement regarding pattern type was worse (kappa 0.478) than using commercial Sebia method (kappa 0.791). There was moderate agreement on the number of CSFrestricted oligoclonal IgG bands, and mostly poor agreement on the number of oligoclonal IgG bands in CSF and serum. Conclusions: Both methods were capable to detect oligoclonal IgG reliably, and neither method could be evaluated as superior to the other. However, better interobserver agreement regarding to the pattern type was obtained using commercial Sebia immunofixation method. Rather poor reproducibility of oligoclonal IgG bands numbering should be known to clinicians, since it entails the risk of potentially misleading interpretations, Nováčková L., Zeman D., and Literatura 20
The local Chow Kit market is the largest wet market in the city of Kuala Lumpur. It is very close to the biggest government hospital in the city centre. However, the level of cleanliness in this area is always questionable and a matter of concern. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of T. gondii oocyst in water samples used by hawkers in that market and tissue cysts in rats’ brains captured from the same area. Water samples were taken to the parasitology laboratory at the National Universtiy of MalaysiaUniversity and a sugar flotation concentration method was used. Supernatant microscopical examination was then performed. A total of 752 slides were screened for the presence of T. gondii oocyst. A hundred rats wandering in the same area were also captured by the hawkers using mousetraps. After each animal was sacrificed, and an electric microtome was used to cut out serial sections 5μ thick from the rat brains. The de-waxed tissue sections were stained by the progressive Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stain for microscopical examination. A total of 1000 slides were screened under a light microscope to detect the presence of T. gondii brain cysts. All the water samples were found to be negative for T. gondii oocyst. Out of the 100 rats captured, three rats were found to possess T. gondii cysts in their brains. Water samples reflect minimal or no solid food contamination, while the 3% of positive brain cysts influence the researchers to broaden their investigations for future projects., Amal R. Nimir, Tang Cher Linn, and Literatura 16