SQUAMOUS CARCINOMA OF THE LUNG WITH OSTEOCARTILAGINOUS STROMA.
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An instance of a squamous carcinoma of the lung with osteocartilaginous metaplasia in the stroma is reported. This unusual stromal response is similar to extraskeletal osteocartilaginous metaplasia in any other site, and is a change which occasionally is produced by a variety of pathological and experimental conditions, including gastrointestinal adenocarcinoma and urinary tract epithelial carcinoma. This stromal response should be differentiated from a true sarcomatous participation in the tumour. (+info)
Incidence and risk factors in the appearance of heterotopic ossification in spinal cord injury.
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Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a frequent complication in patients with a spinal cord injury (SCI), although the aetiology is unknown. A study was undertaken of 654 SCI patients with traumatic aetiology, admitted for the first time to the Hospital Nacional de Paraplejicos, Toledo, during 1988 and 1989. Of the total number of patients, 85 (13%) were diagnosed HO and 569 without HO. The diagnosis was mainly achieved by x-ray studies and clinical signs. From the 569 patients with traumatic aetiology without HO, 44 were selected at random, as were 44 of the 85 patients with HO. The mean time lapse between the occurrence of the accident and admission for patients with HO was 40.79 days (typical deviation (TD) = 45.2), and for patients without HO was 32.84 (TD = 38) days, resulting in a value of F = 0.796 through analysis of variance, which is not a statistically significant variation between the 2 groups. In both groups we have taken account of the following variables: age at time of lesion, lesion level, type of lesion (complete or incomplete), spasticity, urinary tract complications, deep vein thrombosis, important associated injuries occurring at the moment of lesion, time elapsed before admission and the existence of pressure sores. In those SCI patients with HO the number of ossifications and their localisations were also verified. By use of the chi square test (X2) over all 9 variables which were studied, we found that 3 variables (complete spinal lesion, presence of pressure sores and spasticity) were significantly related to HO formation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) (+info)
A living case of pulmonary ossification associated with osteoclast formation from alveolar macrophage in the presence of T-cell cytokines.
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A 61-year-old woman had been coughing up blood-tinged sputum since May 1998. Chest radiography and computed tomography (CT) scans revealed a solitary mass (3 cm in greatest dimension) in the right lower field, accompanied by a surrounding area of ground glass and reticular appearance. Surgical lung biopsy was performed to the surrounding area. The pathological diagnosis was pulmonary ossification of the dendriform type. Alveolar macrophages obtained from her lung differentiated into tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP)-positive multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in the presence of autologous T cells or of macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and interleukin-4 (IL-4). This results suggest the possibility that monocytes/macrophages may have the ability to form osteoclasts in the presence of cytokines that may be involved in the development of pulmonary ossification. (+info)
Bony fragments in the uterus: an association with secondary subfertility.
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Bone within the uterine cavity is an unusual finding in women with secondary subfertility, and is usually associated with a past history of termination of pregnancy. The etiology is unknown, but theories include retained fetal bone and osseous metaplasia of endometrial tissue. We describe the cases of three subfertility patients, all with a history of surgical termination of pregnancy. Each patient underwent a hysteroscopy after highly echogenic foci were seen in the uterus on transvaginal ultrasound examination. During hysteroscopy, several coral-like bony fragments were seen and removed by sharp curettage. On histological examination, these fragments were found to be mature, necrotic bone. This case report confirms the importance of routine baseline evaluation of the endometrium in subfertile women with a history of termination of pregnancy. (+info)
Ossified chronic subdural hematoma.
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A relatively rare condition of ossified chronic subdural hematoma (SDH) mimicking cerebral stroke is presented. A 67-year-old man presented with headache, dysphasia, and left-sided hemiparesis. Routine skull x-ray showed a huge calcification extending from the frontal to the parietal regions in the right side. CT and MRI scan revealed a huge ossified SDH covering the right hemisphere. Right frontoparietal craniotomy was performed and the ossified SDH was completely removed. Severe adhesion was noticed between the pia mater and the inner surface of the ossified mass. The subdural mass had ossified hard outer and inner rims and a soft central part. The postoperative course was uneventful and 3 months after the operation, the patient was neurologically intact. The authors report the successful treatment of a patient with a huge ossified SDH covering the right hemisphere. Careful dissection and total removal are needed in such symptomatic cases to avoid cortical injury and to improve results. (+info)
Computerized quantitative radionuclide assessment of heterotopic ossification in spinal cord injury patients.
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We evaluated the progression of heterotopic ossification (HO) in 17 spinal cord injury patients by comparing radiographs, quantitative radionuclide bone scans, and serum alkaline phosphatase levels. Evidence of maturation of HO appeared earlier (3 months to 6 years post injury) in radiographs, whereas, during the same time frame, radioactive nuclide assessment showed continued progression of HO in 10 out of the 17 patients. The evolution of HO appeared to take place over a period ranging between 3 and 80 months. We believe that stabilization of HO may be reasonably defined in terms of uptake ratios of 2.0 or less in patients with initial uptake ratios over 3.0 but below 5.0, and of ratios of 3.0 or less when the initial values are over 5.0. (+info)
Is osteoarthritis a systemic disorder of bone?
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OBJECTIVE: To describe the osteologic findings associated with osteoarthritis (OA) of a variety of joints. METHODS: We performed visual examination of 563 skeletons of which >/=80% of the skeleton was available, from an archaeologic site in England. The surfaces and margins of several different joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, hands, knees, and ankles) were studied for evidence of eburnation and osteophytes, respectively, and the entire skeleton was examined for evidence of generalized enthesophyte formation. Associations between changes in different joint sites and between enthesophyte formation and evidence of OA were sought. RESULTS: Eburnation and osteophyte formation at the hand, hip, and knee were strongly associated with eburnation and osteophytes at other joint sites not commonly thought to be prone to OA, including the elbow and wrist. Only the ankle was rarely involved. There was also a strong relationship between both bone eburnation and osteophytes and generalized enthesophyte formation. These findings remained statistically significant after adjustment for the age, sex, and historical period of the skeletons. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that skeletal OA is more widespread in the body than is apparent from clinical studies and are consistent with other data suggesting that OA is a disease that is primarily dependent on systemic predisposition to a particular type of bone response to mechanical stress. (+info)
Homeobox protein MSX2 acts as a molecular defense mechanism for preventing ossification in ligament fibroblasts.
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Ligaments and tendons are comprised of tough yet flexible connective tissue. Little is known, however, about the precise characteristics of the cells in ligaments and tendons due to the absence of specific markers and cell lines. We recently reported a periodontal ligament cell line, PDL-L2, with suppressed Runx2/Osf2 transcriptional activity and an inability to form mineralized nodules. The present study demonstrates that the homeobox protein Msx2 is a key factor in suppressing those two functions. Msx2 colocalizes with Runx2/Osf2 and suppresses its activity cooperatively, acting with another corepressor, TLE1, as a complex to recruit histone deacetylase 1 activity. Reverse transcription-PCR and in situ hybridization demonstrated that Msx2 expression is higher in periodontal ligament and tendon cells than in osteoblasts. Stable reduction of Msx2 expression in PDL-L2 cells induces osteoblastic differentiation, thereby causing matrix mineralization. Conversely, stable, forced Msx2 expression in MC3T3-E1 cells prevented osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization. Msx2-induced suppression of osteoblast differentiation was repressed by bone morphogenetic protein 2. In addition, Msx2 was downregulated in a symptom- and calcification-dependent manner at the affected region in patients with ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament. Our findings indicate that Msx2 plays a central role in preventing ligaments and tendons from mineralizing. (+info)