Human pathology
-
The decisive criterium of acute liver allograft rejection was found to be the presence of the diagnostic triad of acute rejection; ie, the presence of portal inflammatory mixed infiltrates, venous endothelialitis (both portal and central), and bile duct injury. On the basis of the presence of each of the components of the diagnostic triad, criteria for the diagnosis of different degrees of acute rejection were developed, particularly focusing attention on a detailed analysis of bile duct injury. Bile duct injury was shown to be an essential part of the histopathologic changes in all grades of acute rejection in the liver allograft, the grade of severity of bile duct injury correlating to a certain extent with the grade of severity of acute rejection. ⋯ Furthermore, our analyses have revealed that bile duct injury in acute rejection is likely to be an irreversible process, depending on the number of episodes of acute rejection that previously occurred. On the other hand, it has become clear from our results that bile duct injury must not be considered to be an absolute histopathologic marker of acute rejection; however, it does have to be judged synoptically in connection with the other components of the diagnostic triad and the changes that the triad cause in the hepatic parenchyma. Additional analyses of the grade of severity of cholostases have shown that the cholostases are, to a certain degree, an accompanying phenomenon of the histopathologic changes characterizing acute rejection rather than a histopathologic change that is as significant as the presence of the components of the diagnostic triad.
-
Histiocytic hyperplasia with hemophagocytosis (HHH) is a relatively rare condition that has often been mistaken for a neoplastic disorder, but which most frequently represents a secondary reactive phenomenon whose associated risk factors have not yet been clearly defined. Histologic sections of hematopoietic organs (bone marrow, lymph nodes, and spleen) from 230 consecutive adults autopsies were reviewed to identify cases of HHH and to correlate them with clinical and autopsy findings. Moderate to severe HHH was present in the bone marrow in 102 and 230 cases, in the lymph nodes in 79 of 191 cases, and in the spleens of 16 of 209 cases. ⋯ Analyses for HHH in lymph nodes and spleen were similar to analysis for the bone marrow, but were somewhat less marked. The results of this study suggest that reactive HHH in hematopoietic organs may be far more common than has previously been acknowledged, and is most often multifactorial rather than related to a single underlying condition, with transfusions and bacterial sepsis constituting the most significant risk factors. Therefore, reactive HHH may represent a frequent secondary phenomenon in critically ill patients undergoing transfusions and should not be mistaken for an ominous sign or for the development of a superimposed malignancy.
-
Case Reports
Thromboangiitis obliterans with eosinophilia (Buerger's disease) of the temporal arteries.
Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger's disease) is a nonatherosclerotic, inflammatory, occlusive vascular disease occurring almost exclusively in young male smokers. It involves principally medium sized and small arteries and veins of the lower and upper extremities, and only rarely the visceral and cerebral blood vessels. ⋯ Three such cases, clinically mimicking the classic (giant cell) temporal arteritis of the elderly, are described. This unusual arterial lesion also bears some resemblance to subcutaneous angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (Kimura's disease).
-
Nine cases of testicular vasculitis were identified from the surgical pathology and autopsy files of the Johns Hopkins Hospital. In three cases this was the initial manifestation of polyarteritis nodosa. Two of these men presented with recurrent testicular pain and fever, with orchiectomy samples showing focal infarcts and necrotizing vasculitis. ⋯ Polyarteritis nodosa is the most common cause of necrotizing vasculitis of the testes, and pathologists should recognize the rare testicular presentation of this disease. However, testicular vasculitis also may be seen with other systemic diseases associated with vasculitis. Three of our cases were seen without systemic vasculitis, suggesting that testicular vasculitis may occur as an isolated finding without being a manifestation of systemic disease.