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The cranial meninges have been shown to play a pivotal role in traumatic brain injury mechanopathology. However, while the mechanical response of the brain and its many subregions have been studied extensively, the meninges have conventionally been overlooked. This paper presents the first comparative mechanical analysis of human dura mater, falx cerebri and superior sagittal sinus tissues. Biaxial tensile analysis identified that these tissues are mechanically heterogeneous, in contrast to the assumption that the tissues are mechanically homogeneous which is typically employed in FE model design. A thickness of 0.91 ± 0.05 (standard error) mm for the falx cerebri was also identified. This data can aid in improving the biofidelity of the influential falx structure in FE models. Additionally, the use of a collagen hybridizing peptide on the superior sagittal sinus suggests this structure is particularly susceptible to the effects of circumferential stretch, which may have important implications for clinical treatment of dural venous sinus pathologies. Collectively, this research progresses understanding of meningeal mechanical and structural characteristics and may aid in elucidating the behaviour of these tissues in healthy and diseased conditions. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This study presents the first evaluation of human falx cerebri and superior sagittal sinus mechanical, geometrical and structural properties, along with a comparison to cranial dura mater. To mechanically characterise the tissues, biaxial tensile testing is conducted on the tissues. This analysis identifies, for the first time, mechanical stiffness differences between these tissues. Additionally, geometrical analysis identifies that there are thickness differences between the tissues. The evaluation of human meningeal tissues allows for direct implementation of the novel data to finite element head injury models to enable improved biofidelity of these influential structures in traumatic brain injury simulations. This work also identifies that the superior sagittal sinus may be easily damaged during clinical angioplasty procedures, which may inform the treatment of dural sinus pathologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumours of the Central Nervous System Tumours represents the most significant update to neuro-oncological tumour classification to date, compared with previous updates. This update reflects the substantial advances in molecular and genetic understanding of both adult and childhood brain tumours which have occurred in recent years. These advances have meant that an increasing array of molecular tests are required to definitively classify a tumour, allowing for a more precise integrated pathological diagnosis, but at the expense of a more challenging pathology workup. We review the changes incorporated into the 2016 classification and describe the impact of these changes in an Irish neuropathology laboratory.

Introduction: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a postmortem diagnosis. Consensus postmortem, but not antemortem, diagnostic criteria have been established. A key factor in these criteria is evidence of phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) around sulcal vessels in the cortex. However, this sign has been observed anecdotally in a diverse range of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD). We therefore hypothesise that this criterion may lack specificity., Methods: To test this, we assessed patients with NDD, but no documented history of brain trauma, for sulcal p-tau. Tissue was retrieved from Dublin Brain Bank (known NDD n = 17; control with no diagnosed NDD n = 6; CTE n = 1), and slides were prepared from three sites with a predilection for trauma: superior frontal gyrus, temporal pole, and superior temporal gyrus. We stained the resulting anonymised slides with both hemotoxylin and eosin (H&E) and p-tau. Three neuropathologists, blinded to the clinical history and neuropathological diagnosis in each instance, evaluated each case for sulcal p-tau. We calculated the interrater agreement, using Fleiss's kappa, and the specificity of this neuropathological sign., Results: Sulcal p-tau was highly specific to diagnosed CTE cases (specificity 0.98), with moderate interrater agreement (κ = 0.45)., Conclusion: In conclusion, therefore, we observed sulcal p-tau to be a sign highly specific to CTE when compared with NDD cases in the absence of head trauma.

Background HIV has changed from a rapidly deteriorating illness to a complex chronic disease, with increasing incidences of comorbidity, including cancer, and liver, lung and cardiovascular diseases. North West London has 6719 individuals living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 873 of whom reside in the London Borough of Brent. Traditionally, commissioning services have focused on HIV therapy alone without considering how comorbidity affects treatment outcome and total service costs. Setting The setting for the study was NHS Brent Primary Care Trust, London UK. Question What associated comorbidities are present in people in Brent (London, UK) living with HIV, and how common are they? Methods A point-prevalence audit of retrospective data was conducted on all HIV-positive patients in Brent (financial year 2011/12). Data were collected from genito-urinary medicine (GUM) services, community services and general practitioners (GPs) on HIV diagnosis, patient demographics and past/current comorbidities: hepatitis B and C, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and mental health disorders. Results This study identified that 29% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Brent have at least one comorbidity. The most common was hepatitis, followed by mental health disorders and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Comorbidity was more likely in older male patients (in particular CVD and diabetes) and White patients (except for diabetes which was more common in Asian groups). Discussion/Conclusion Many PLWHA in Brent suffer from a number of other conditions, which appear largely independent of HIV. Findings confirm the need to treat HIV as a long-term condition, including patient education, empowerment and encouraging self-management. The multi-morbidity of many PLWHA suggests a role for both primary care and collaborative, holistic, patient-centred and individualised healthcare. Service providers and commissioners need to consider comorbidities in their treatment of and provision of services for PLWHA. This study also highlighted the need for services to address limitations of their data collection systems.

Ocular melanoma is characterized by an unpredictable clinical course, during which fulminant metastatic disease may occur after a prolonged disease-free interval. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of metastatic involvement in this disease. The clinical and radiologic findings in 110 patients with metastatic ocular melanoma were reviewed. The 54 men and 56 women were 24-79 years old (mean, 50 years) when the primary tumor was first diagnosed. Metastases were present in three patients at the time of first diagnosis and occurred in 107 patients 2 months to 36 years later (mean, 52 months). One hundred five patients died between 1 and 38 months after the onset of metastatic disease. Hepatic metastases developed in 101 patients (92%), and in 60 (55%) of these, the liver was the only organ involved initially. Pulmonary parenchymal metastases developed in 34 patients (31%), but in only four of them were metastases confined to the lungs. Twenty-five patients (23%) had bone involvement, mostly affecting the spine. Nineteen patients (17%) had skin or subcutaneous metastases, but in only two of them was this the initial finding. Nodal involvement was shown in 15 patients (14%), almost always associated with extensive hepatic metastases. Brain and adrenal metastases were seen in five and three patients, respectively. Hepatic involvement occurs in almost all patients who develop metastatic ocular melanoma, and the liver is the most common initial site of metastatic involvement. Metastases may develop after a long disease-free interval.

Mediastinal adenopathy is a common manifestation of HD in a usually predictable pattern involving anterior and middle mediastinal nodes with or without disease in the hili. Hilar adenopathy is uncommon without detectable mediastinal disease and the lung is virtually never involved alone. In NHL the pattern of disease is more unpredictable. Lung manifestations include direct extension from involved nodes, nodules with or without cavitation, atelectasis secondary to endobronchial or nodal obstruction and rarely an interstitial pattern. Pleural effusions are not uncommon, but solid pleural masses are less frequent. Invasion of the pericardium is not often seen, although masses are commonly seen along the pericardium. Invasion of the chest wall occurs particularly with involvement of internal mammary nodes. Occasionally, posterior nodes will invade the adjacent vertebrae and spinal canal. The chest wall may be invaded by enlarged axillary nodes. Isolated chest wall soft-tissue masses are not common and are usually a manifestation of NHL, especially large cell lymphoma. Although the chest radiograph should detect most intrathoracic disease. CT has been found a necessary adjunct in patients with HD for accurate staging and therapy, especially if radiotherapy is planned. CT has been found helpful in NHL for staging, especially for the pleura and chest wall. MR imaging has not been found to contribute additional useful information except in selected cases.

The radiological features of extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma were reviewed in 22 patients whose average age was 22 years. Tumours were located in the extremities (11 patients), abdomen or pelvis (six patients) and the chest (five patients). The tumours ranged in size from 2 cm to 20 cm, were mainly well circumscribed and showed no evidence of calcification prior to treatment. Most tumours (13 out of 14) were of low attenuation or contained areas of lower attenuation than muscle on computed tomographic examination, and in six out of seven patients studied by ultrasound the tumours were hypoechoic or partly anechoic. No distinctive post-contrast medium enhancement pattern on CT examination (11 patients) or angiographic features (three patients) were evident. Tumour haemorrhage was a frequent microscopic finding and changes consistent with this were present in one patient on magnetic resonance imaging examination. Distant metastases or local recurrence developed in 13 patients with lung being the most frequent metastatic site (eight patients). Although its radiological features are non-specific, extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma should be included in the differential diagnosis of noncalcified soft-tissue tumours especially in a young age group and where located in an extremity or paravertebral region of the chest.

Nonenhanced and enhanced CT was compared in 88 patients with breast cancer and hepatic metastasis. Twenty-five patients had bolus, sequential dynamic CT, and 63 patients were scanned more slowly after a bolus or during drip infusion. Metastatic lesions were more conspicuous on nonenhanced CT and became isodense or nearly isodense after contrast medium administration in 28% of the patients scanned dynamically and in 29% of those scanned more slowly. Although breast cancer has not generally been considered a common origin of hypervascular metastases, we recommend that it be treated as such and that both enhanced and nonenhanced CT of the liver be obtained when patients are screened for metastasis.

The computed tomography (CT) appearances of intussusception in 14 patients and the clinical follow-up of this condition in 17 adults with known primary malignant neoplasms were retrospectively reviewed. The ages of the 11 men and six women ranged from 25 to 83 years. Nine patients had been treated for malignant melanoma and the others for various primary neoplasms. Intussusception on CT was characterized by thickening of the affected bowel segment in all 14 patients and by the presence of intraluminal fat density material in 13, a concentric ring or "target" lesion in four, and an intra-luminal soft-tissue mass in nine. Five patients had intussusception, without other evidence of disease, caused by metastases in three patients, lipoma in one and idiopathic in one. Eleven of the other 12 patients had extensive disease, and one had small bowel cytomegalovirus infection. Five of these patients had more than one site of bowel involvement. Ten of the 12 patients had progression of disease on follow-up CT examinations and six died between 26 days and 7 months after diagnosis of intussusception. Intussusception may occur as the first indication of tumour recurrence or metastasis, but is more commonly a manifestation of widespread disease. However, even in patients with malignant neoplasms, it may be idiopathic or a result of benign neoplasm.

Forty-six patients with extremity soft-tissue sarcomas were treated with a mean of 4.4 cycles of preoperative adriamycin-based combination chemotherapy, followed by definitive local surgery and radiotherapy. All tumors were larger than 5 cm and of histologic type having significant risk of metastasis. Eighteen patients (40%) had an objective clinical response to the chemotherapy, while 27 patients (60%) did not respond. Patients with tumors responsive to chemotherapy had significantly improved overall survival (median 60 + months versus 32.7 months; p = 0.02), continuous disease-free survival (median 60 + months versus 15.1 months; p = 0.04), and distant metastasis-free survival (median 60+ months versus 28.5 months; p = 0.006) compared to the nonresponding patients. Tumor response to preoperative chemotherapy provides strong prognostic information and identifies a subgroup of patients most likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Preoperative localization of the impalpable undescended testis is necessary to facilitate proper surgical planning. There is an increased incidence of malignant change in the undescended testis; demonstration of malignancy before surgery will significantly alter the treatment. We describe the computed tomographic (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) findings in 2 patients with malignant change in an intraabdominal testis. The CT scan revealed lesions with areas of low density, 1 of which had focal calcifications; MR revealed lesions of predominantly low or intermediate signal intensity on both long and short TR/TE images, with some areas of very high signal on both sequences. After initial management with chemotherapy, the residual tumor was surgically resected. In neither instance was residual normal testis demonstrated. Both CT and MR are ideal methods of examining malignant transformation of the undescended testis, because of their ability to characterize the internal structure of the organ and, in the case of MR, its capacity for multiplanar imaging. They are almost of equal value except for the ability of CT to identify calcification and of MR to diagnose hemorrhage.

Focal hepatic atrophy has numerous causes and in many cases is associated with compensatory hypertrophy. We have observed this phenomenon on CT in patients with hepatic neoplasms. Of 12 patients studied, eight had hepatic metastases, two had hepatocellular carcinoma, and two had bile-duct carcinoma. Focal changes in liver morphology (i.e., atrophy with compensatory hypertrophy) were found in five patients at presentation and developed after treatment with systemic or intraarterial chemotherapy in the others. Atrophic changes affected the right lobe in eight patients, the left lobe in three, and part of both lobes in one. Compensatory hypertrophy of part or all of the unaffected liver was found. Ten patients had obstruction of the portal vein branch to the atrophic segment, four of these 10 also had hepatic vein obstruction, and two of these 10 also had bile duct obstruction. Portal vein obstruction appears to be the most important element in the production of focal hepatic atrophy in patients with hepatic neoplasms. After treatment with chemotherapy, tumor regression and atrophy may be associated with compensatory hypertrophy and enlargement of the uninvolved part of the liver. This must not be mistaken for progression of disease.

We reviewed the CT findings in 19 cases of radiation-induced sarcoma of bone. The latent period before development of the sarcoma ranged from 5 to 50 years (mean, 17 years). In all 19 lesions, a soft-tissue extraosseous component was seen on CT, and 18 of them had associated bone destruction. Expansion of the affected bone and tumor-matrix mineralization each were present in 10 patients, but occurred together in only five patients. Periosteal reaction was seen in five patients, one of whom had an associated fracture. Radiation osteitis could not be identified on CT scans in the affected bone of any of the patients when tumor was present, but it was present in contiguous bone in two patients and had been shown 6 years before tumor became apparent in the affected bone in one other patient. Radiation-induced sarcoma of bone should be considered when bone destruction and an associated soft-tissue mass are shown on CT, or when changes occur in the appearance of previously stable irradiated bone.

Residual masses are a common finding after chemotherapy for retroperitoneal and other metastases from nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis. These may contain mature teratoma, fibrotic tissue, or tumor. Mature teratoma, which is unresponsive to chemotherapy, may result from evolution of a malignant lesion during treatment, or it may represent a metastasis from a focus of mature teratoma in the primary testicular tumor. An enlarging retroperitoneal mass during the course of chemotherapy is usually due to treatment failure but rarely may be due to an enlarging mature teratoma, the so-called growing teratoma syndrome. This report concerns five patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors metastatic to the retroperitoneum in whom mature teratomas were found at surgery. These tumors had grown despite the administration of combination systemic chemotherapy, and the cystic component had increased in size. Three patients had evidence of urinary tract compression, three had vascular compression or displacement, and one had gastrointestinal compression. The retroperitoneal mass was excised in each patient, and all are alive 4-27 months after surgery without evidence of recurrence. Growing mature teratoma is unresponsive to chemotherapy but is cured by surgical excision. The possibility of the growing teratoma syndrome should be considered so that these lesions can be treated appropriately.

We evaluated the results of arterial chemotherapy and embolization via the inferior epigastric artery and its branches in 10 patients with a variety of primary and metastatic neoplasms supplied by that vessel. A total of 15 infusions and five occlusions were performed. There were no complications related to arteriography, indwelling catheters, or arterial occlusion. The effects on tumor bulk ranged from complete necrosis in one patient to partial necrosis in three patients. Surgical resection was facilitated in four of six patients. Local recurrence of tumor occurred in two of these patients. Three of four patients with intractable pain had effective relief. Our experience suggests that transarterial therapy of tumors supplied by the inferior epigastric artery or its branches is a safe procedure and may be useful in tumor management.

Recently, several authorities have argued that, whenever surgically feasible, parenchyma-conserving surgery rather than radical nephrectomy should be the preferred treatment for renal cell carcinoma. They affirm that the results reported following partial nephrectomy are as good as those reported following radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. However, parenchyma-conserving surgery is usually performed only for relatively small, well-circumscribed tumors that do not involve the collecting system extensively or the renal hilum. To determine the results when radical nephrectomy is used to manage similar tumors, we reviewed the clinical records and arteriograms of 111 patients with renal cell carcinoma. Review of the arteriograms showed that parenchyma-conserving surgery could have been performed in 10 cases (9%). The disease-free survival rate for these 10 patients after radical nephrectomy was 100 percent, and they had no local recurrences. On the basis of these data, we believe that radical nephrectomy remains the best treatment for all patients who have renal cell carcinoma and a normal contralateral kidney.

Alveolar soft-part sarcoma is a rare soft-tissue tumor of unknown cellular origin that is characterized histologically by its organized "pseudoalveolar" pattern. The radiologic findings in 11 patients with this neoplasm were reviewed. The six men and five women were 16-48 years old (mean, 27 years). Nine patients had untreated primary tumors (thigh, four; forearm, two; and buttock, rectus abdominis muscle, and infratemporal fossa, one each) and two had locally recurrent masses (one each in the retroperitoneum and retrocrural space). All patients were evaluated by conventional radiography, two by sonography, eight by CT, five by angiography, and three by MR. Conventional radiographs showed the soft-tissue mass in only four patients; four lesions caused destruction of adjacent bone and two had soft-tissue calcification. Unenhanced CT showed low-attenuation lesions in four of five patients. The lesions were hypervascular on contrast-enhanced CT or angiography in each of nine patients studied. Prominent draining veins were shown by CT or angiography in five patients. Three lesions had a prolonged capillary stain on angiography. Alveolar soft-part sarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a hypervascular soft-tissue mass, particularly in the thigh of a young adult.

Ten patients with biopsy-proved synovial sarcoma were evaluated by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging on a 1.5-T unit. The lesions showed intermediate signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Tumors were well-demarcated from normal tissues. Additional information included adjacent bone involvement (one case), femoral vein invasion by tumor (one case), and hemorrhage within the tumors (one case). Four patients underwent a repeat MR examination following chemotherapy. This showed a decrease in size and increase in the signal intensity of three tumors on T2-weighted images, proven to be due to necrosis in one. These changes correlated with clinical regression of disease. While MR in synovial sarcoma does not have any specific signal intensity, it proved to be useful in defining the extent of disease and in determining the response to chemotherapy.

The clinical and radiologic findings in nine patients with hemangiopericytoma were reviewed. There were eight women and one man with a mean age of 46 years. Seven of the neoplasms, including two locally recurrent tumors, were in the pelvis and two were in the thigh. Conventional radiographs were available for all patients. Five patients were evaluated by sonography, four by CT, three by angiography, and two by MR imaging. There was evidence of compression of adjacent viscera by six of the seven pelvic tumors with associated hydronephrosis in one patient. One thigh lesion had focal areas of speckled calcification. All five neoplasms evaluated by sonography showed a well-circumscribed hypoechoic lesion and three had significant sound through-transmission. Hypervascularity was documented by contrast-enhanced CT or angiography in each of three patients in whom these procedures were performed. Surgical resection of the pelvic neoplasms was complicated by marked hemorrhage. Hemangiopericytoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of well-circumscribed hypervascular tumors in a middle-aged patient.

The magnetic resonance (MR) findings in three patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma are described. All patients had a circumferential pleural mass surrounding the lung on the affected side. These tumors had a signal of intermediate intensity on T1-weighted images. The T2-weighted images showed a slight increase in signal intensity of the mass, with focal areas of very high signal intensity due to pleural fluid. Adenopathy was demonstrated by CT and MR in two patients. The extent of the tumor and its effects on adjacent structures were well appreciated on the coronal MR images.