-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Cytokeratins 7 and 19 and neuronal cell adhesion molecule (CD56) are differentially expressed in the hepatocytes and biliary epithelium. CD34 is an endothelial marker that is expressed in hepatic sinusoids in conditions associated with altered vascular flow and neoplasms. Distinct staining patterns using these markers have been shown in resected specimens of focal nodular hyperplasia, telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia, and hepatic adenoma. The purpose of this study was to examine the diagnostic use of these markers in needle biopsies. Needle biopsies from focal nodular hyperplasia (n = 21), telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia (n = 2), and hepatic adenoma (n = 14) were included in the study. These cases represent typical examples of each entity that have been diagnosed on the basis of clinical, imaging, and histologic features. Corresponding resection specimens available in 9 cases were also included in the study for comparison. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed on 4-mum-thick formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections using antibodies against cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, neuronal cell adhesion molecule, and CD34. The staining patterns and intensity for each marker were analyzed in a blinded fashion, and the patterns were recorded as focal nodular hyperplasia-like, hepatic adenoma-like, or indeterminate for each case. Presence of normal tissue was also recorded in each case. The hepatic adenoma-like pattern is characterized by strong cytokeratin 7 positivity in hepatocytes in patches with a gradual decrease in the staining intensity as the cells differentiate toward mature hepatocytes. Hepatic adenomas lack bile ducts and ductules as highlighted by cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule stains. The focal nodular hyperplasia-like pattern is characterized by milder and focal cytokeratin 7 staining of hepatocytes. Cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule show a strong staining of bile ductules in the fibrous septa. Normal liver shows cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule staining of bile ducts, whereas the hepatocytes are generally negative. Of the 21 focal nodular hyperplasia cases, 20 cases (95.2%) showed a focal nodular hyperplasia-like pattern, whereas 13 (92.2%) of 14 hepatic adenoma cases showed a hepatic adenoma-like pattern. Both cases of telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia showed a hepatic adenoma-like pattern. CD34 stain showed areas of diffuse endothelial staining in 2 cases of hepatic adenoma, 3 cases of focal nodular hyperplasia, and both cases of telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia, whereas the remaining cases showed staining of endothelial cells only in the inflow areas of the sinusoids. A mixed (diffuse and inflow) pattern of CD34 staining was seen in 1 focal nodular hyperplasia, 1 hepatic adenoma, and 2 telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia cases. For statistical analysis, the telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia were considered as variants of hepatic adenoma. The findings were found to be highly statistically significant (P < .05) for cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule stains. An inflow staining pattern favors a diagnosis of focal nodular hyperplasia; however, overall, CD34 stain was not helpful in differentiating focal nodular hyperplasia and hepatic adenoma. Corresponding resection specimens (hepatic adenoma = 5, focal nodular hyperplasia = 2) showed staining patterns that were identical to the biopsy, whereas resections of the telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia cases showed both focal nodular hyperplasia and hepatic adenoma-like areas. Considering that telangiectatic focal nodular hyperplasia is now thought to be a variant of hepatic adenoma, the staining patterns correctly identified all cases, except one case each of focal nodular hyperplasia and hepatic adenoma. In summary, a combination of cytokeratin 7, cytokeratin 19, and neuronal cell adhesion molecule immunostains performed on needle biopsies of liver shows distinctive patterns similar to that of resection specimen. The stains, especially cytokeratins 7 and 19, are very helpful in distinguishing normal from lesional tissue, as well as hepatic adenoma from focal nodular hyperplasia, and could be diagnostically helpful in challenging cases. Prospective studies to evaluate use of these stains in challenging cases are needed to validate these findings.
Human pathology 01/2009; 40(5):726-34. · 3.03 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Adult nesidioblastosis, a rare form of abnormal islet cell proliferation arising from the pancreatic ductal epithelium, is usually associated with severe hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia. Overall, seventy-three cases of nesidioblastosis have been described in the English literature since the entity was first described by Laidlaw in 1938, and only a minute fraction of these have occurred in children.
We present the case of a previously healthy 45-year-old woman with new-onset severe hypoglycemia 4 and seizures. The differential diagnosis at presentation included factitious hypoglycemia and insulinoma. Extensive imaging and laboratory examination, including repeated CT and MRI scans, toxicology assays, and insulin-based chemical studies, were either inconclusive or negative. Subsequent testing involved stimulation of the pancreas through cannulation of the pancreatic vascular supply by interventional radiology. This testing revealed marked insulin release to low-level calcium challenge across multiple pancreatic segments. Based on these functional radiological findings, the patient underwent subtotal pancreatectomy. Gross and histologic examination of the resected tissue revealed no evidence of a pancreatic mass. Diffuse islet cell hyperplasia was noted in a pattern consistent with nesidioblastosis. The patient remained normoglycemic in the months following partial pancreatectomy.
Nesidioblastosis, while exceedingly rare in adult populations, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of severe hypoglycemia. This diagnosis cannot be easily made through routine diagnostic laboratory or radiological procedures and likely requires a histological tissue diagnosis.
JOP: Journal of the pancreas 01/2008; 9(4):504-11.
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Intraductal papillary cholangiocarcinoma (IPC) is a rare form of bile duct neoplasm with only 28 cases reported in the English literature to date. We report a rare case of an IPC arising in a liver containing many von Meyenberg complexes (VMC) in a 70-year-old woman. She presented with colicky right upper quadrant pain and nausea, mimicking biliary colic. Imaging studies showed a mass in the left lobe of the liver. A left hepatectomy, which included segments 2 and 3 was performed, and an ill-defined shiny polypoid nonhomogenous mass (8.2x2.9 cm) was identified within the lumen of a dilated bile duct without invading the liver parenchyma. Histologically, the tumor was composed of papillary fronds with fine fibrovascular cores lined by tall biliary columnar mucus secreting epithelium. Focally the cells were of the gastric foveolar type. The tumor extended into the peribiliary glands and merged with an adjacent large VMC. A possibility that the carcinoma may have originated in a VMC was considered. On follow-up after 12 months the patient is doing well and is without any disease or recurrence.
Digestive Diseases and Sciences 10/2007; 52(10):2643-5. · 2.12 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We describe a 37-year-old patient who presented with right lower quadrant pain and intermenstrual bleeding. MRI demonstrated a 5 x 5 cm lobulated mass centered in the right uterine wall interpreted as suspicious for malignancy. A total hysterectomy was performed, and the gross and histologic features were consistent with the diagnosis of a uterus-like mass. Uterus-like mass is a benign entity that can be found in a variety of organs, and is characterized by endometrium surrounded by smooth muscle. It is an extremely rare lesion with only approximately 15 cases reported in the current literature. There is a lack of imaging literature on this entity, which is primarily described in the pathology literature. Its histogenesis is uncertain, but is theorized to be metaplastic change, congenital anomaly, and/or heterotopia. However, given the MRI appearance in this case, we feel that uterus-like mass could be prospectively diagnosed or listed in a differential diagnosis.
Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 08/2007; 26(1):162-4. · 2.70 Impact Factor
-
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The widespread use of increasingly novel diagnostic and neoadjuvant therapeutic modalities necessitates that contemporary pathologists familiarize themselves with the spectrum of tissue derangements that may be seen in the eventual surgical specimens. In the management of endometrial lesions, for example, a variety of endometrial ablation technologies, such as cryosurgery, balloon therapy, microwave, hot circulating saline, and bipolar impedance technology, have been introduced in the past decade and are being utilized with increasing frequency. We describe herein pathologic changes associated with one such technology, the NovaSure impedance-controlled endometrial ablation system. The US Food and Drug Administration approved NovaSure in 2001 for ablation of the endometrial lining in premenopausal women with menorrhagia. The ablation is accomplished by the delivery of radio-frequency energy for a period of approximately 90 seconds through a device inserted transcervically into the endometrial cavity. Our patient, a 54-year-old with menorrhagia, had undergone the NovaSure ablative treatment 38 days prior to her eventual hysterectomy. The resultant changes were quite distinctive: in a uterine wall that was 20 to 30 mm thick, a 3- to 6-mm-thick, hyalinized, subendometrial bandlike zone was apparent throughout the uterus even on macroscopic examination of the slides. This zone was sharply demarcated from the subjacent myometrium and from the endometrium; the latter displayed severe stromal fibrosis, some myxoid change, and sparse glands that were largely confined to the basalis. Paradoxically, scattered aggregates of stromal cells in the endometrium remained relatively viable. Adenomyotic aggregates and leiomyomata in the myometrium beneath the hyalinized zone were unaffected by this treatment. Practitioners evaluating hysterectomy specimens should be aware of changes such as those described herein, not only to better understand the specimens they evaluate but to avoid potentially misinterpreting grotesque alterations caused by benign processes.
Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine 10/2005; 129(9):1175-8. · 2.58 Impact Factor
