Search

Granular cell tumor is an unusual growth of probably neuroectodermal histogenesis, first reported by Abrikossoff in 1926 with the name of myoblastenmyoma. Authors described a case of a 54 year man with laryngeal seat of granular-cell myoblastoma. In this case Abrikossoff tumor was located in the right vocal chord. The tumor was treated successfully surgically by microlaryngoscopy. The etiology, clinical features and diagnostic difficulties are discussed.

The authors have presented a case of brain abscess during chronic otitis media. They have described a treatment, complications and reasons of failure.

A mouse monoclonal antibody and a rabbit polyclonal antibody prepared against the placental form of the enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST-pi) were used to immunohistochemically stain normal and neoplastic human uterine cervical tissues from 88 cases. Of 65 cases of preneoplastic squamous lesions and invasive carcinomas of the cervix, 94% stained with the monoclonal antibody and 100% with the polyclonal antibody. In the 23 benign tissues, staining of ectocervical squamous epithelium was generally not observed; however, areas of reserve-cell hyperplasia, immature squamous metaplasia and adjacent endocervical cells did show staining (68% with the monoclonal antibody and 95% with the polyclonal antibody). Many of the positive tissue types showed a variety of staining patterns and intensities. These findings do not support the concept that GST-pi staining can be used to distinguish preneoplastic lesions of the cervix from benign reactive or proliferative processes. These results are of interest in the investigation of cervical carcinogenesis since GST-pi may be involved in an early stage of neoplastic transformation of the cervical epithelium. The correlation of these findings with the results of human papillomavirus testing and DNA content analysis should be of interest in determining the relationship of this enzyme to cervical neoplasia.

The authors report a boy aged 9 years in whom a giant meningioma of the small wing of the sphenoidal bone was removed surgically. Attention is called to the rarity of these tumours in the first decade of life. Developmental retardation, speech beginning at the age of 4 years, large head and epileptic seizures developing at the age of 7 years without signs of intracranial hypertension suggested the possibility of organic brain disease and development of massive hemiparesis, speech disturbances and choked disc in the last period of the disease were the cause of referral of the child to a neurosurgical unit. Plain skull films and angiography demonstrated changes typical of raised intracranial pressure and presence of an expanding lesion in the left cerebral hemisphere. Meningioma was found on operation hidden within the left frontal and temporal lobes but connected by means of a narrow band to the dura of the small wing of the sphenoidal bone. A good result was obtained. Follow-up examination after 2 years demonstrated slight neurological abnormalities and a very good general state of the child.

In a strictly controlled field trial among schoolchildren a study was made of the protective capacity of single doses of 2 typhoid vaccines: a heat-killed broth-grown sorbed dried vaccine made in the USSR (vaccine G-66) and an acetone-killed agar-grown dried vaccine (vaccine K-66) made in Yugoslavia. The latter vaccine was supplied by the World Health Organization.A single dose of these preparations exerted a statistically significant protective effect during the first 10 months of observation. The protection afforded by the acetone-killed and heat-killed sorbed vaccines was similar in duration and intensity to that resulting from single doses of other types of typhoid vaccines that had been evaluated earlier in the USSR. The data obtained confirm once again that successful immunization against typhoid is possible with a single dose of vaccine.The absence of any substantial difference in morbidity between the groups concerned indicates that the heat-killed broth-grown and acetone-killed agar-grown vaccines exert a roughly similar protective effect.