Minimal access breast surgery

Minimal access procedures have great potential for providing patients with equal, if not superior, forms of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Many of these procedures are in a process of evolution. The reliability of each method probably depends heavily on the training, ability, and experience of the operator. Surgeons should be aware of the advantages and pitfalls of these techniques and exercise caution during the initial phases of their learning experience.

Use of advanced breast biopsy instrumentation while performing stereotactic breast biopsies: review of 150 consecutive biopsies

BACKGROUND

Stereotactic breast biopsies are being performed in the United States with increasing frequency. Advanced breast biopsy instrumentation (ABBI) is a recent addition to the list of available stereotactic breast biopsy devices (eg, fine-needle aspiration, automated needle cores, and vacuum-assisted devices). Indications for the ABBI procedure in the management of patients with nonpalpable mammographic lesions have not been established.

STUDY DESIGN

Prospectively collected data on 150 patients biopsied with the ABBI procedure were reviewed.

RESULTS

From April 1996 to May 1997, 150 patients with indeterminate or suspicious nonpalpable mammographic lesions were biopsied using the ABBI technique. Complications were minor. One patient (0.6%) required a repeat biopsy because of insufficient tissue and one patient had repeat excision to confirm the diagnosis of atypical ductal hyperplasia. Cancer was diagnosed in 26%. Followup mammograms were obtained in 94% of the patients. Lesions were missed in three patients (2%), none of whom were later found to have cancer. One patient (0.6%) required a repeat ABBI biopsy for postbiopsy architectural distortion. Postprocedure mammographic scarring was otherwise minimal and was noted in only 16% of the patients. Of the 111 patients with benign diagnoses, 67 were seen for clinical followup; 98% had good cosmetic outcomes and were satisfied with the ABBI technique.

CONCLUSIONS

The ABBI technique is a safe, reliable stereotactic breast biopsy technique that is well accepted by patients. The sensitivity and specificity of ABBI biopsy for the diagnosis of carcinoma in this series were each 100% for the 142 patients returning for followup. Indications for the technique are similar to those for traditional needle localization excisional breast biopsies.

The significance of light chain-restricted bone marrow plasma cells after peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for multiple myeloma

While plasmacytosis is a common occurrence in early post-bone marrow transplantation biopsy specimens, the significance of plasma cells in such specimens from patients with multiple myeloma (MM) is unknown. We attempted to retrospectively determine, by morphologic assessment of plasma cell percentage, immunohistologic assessment of plasma cell light chain ratio (LCR), and correlation with clinical outcome, the prevalence and significance of plasmacytosis in the posttransplantation bone marrow biopsy specimens of 25 patients with MM who underwent autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). No pre-PBSCT morphologic or immunologic characteristics were significantly associated with the post-PBSCT outcome in this group of patients. While 9% of all biopsy specimens and 25% of hypocellular biopsy specimens obtained during the first 60 days after the PBSCT contained more than 10% plasma cells, 34% of all biopsy specimens obtained during this period had elevated LCRs. The dominant light chain in all cases with high LCRs was the same as that of the original tumors, implying that these plasma cells represent a portion of the patients' original tumors. However, the presence of tumoral plasma cells during the early post-PBSCT period was not associated with outcome (P>.5 at 30 days and 60 days after transplantation). Histologic features of recurrent MM and elevated LCR occurring at day 90 or later are correlated with progression of disease (P=.02 and P=.0001, respectively). We conclude that the presence of tumoral plasma cells in the early post-PBSCT period likely represents residual tumor and should not be regarded as indicating imminent relapse, while the presence of tumor as assessed by histologic or immunohistochemical evaluation during the late post-PBSCT period should raise the concern of relapse and disease progression.

Fine-needle aspiration of lymph nodes: use of flow cytometry immunophenotyping

Fine-needle aspiration of lymph nodes can be used successfully in the clinical work-up of lymphadenopathy. The procedure has some limitations, some of which can be overcome by using such ancillary studies as flow cytometry or immunophenotyping. The authors discuss the use of these techniques in establishing definitive diagnosis of the most common and well-recognized lymphadenopathies.

Floral variant of follicular lymphoma. Immunological and molecular studies support a neoplastic process

In recent reports of the so-called "floral variant" of follicular lymphoma, an unusual variant of follicular lymphoma mimicking progressive transformation of germinal centers, questions have been raised regarding whether this process represents a malignant lymphoma. We studied 19 examples of the floral variant of follicular lymphoma and report our light microscopic, immunohistochemical, and molecular diagnostic findings. Morphologic changes consisted of effacement of normal lymph node architecture by follicles composed of atypical lymphocytes. The follicles were surrounded by prominent mantle zones that invaginated irregularly into the follicle centers, often imparting a "floral" appearance. Sufficient material was available for immunophenotypic or genotypic studies in 15 biopsies. Twelve of 15 cases studied by immunohistochemistry demonstrated phenotypes supporting a diagnosis of lymphoma. Five demonstrated light-chain restriction; one was an immunoglobulin-negative B-cell neoplasm; and six, in which only formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue was available, demonstrated overexpression of the bcl-2 protein. Southern blot analysis revealed evidence of clonal immunoglobulin heavy-chain gene rearrangement in all five cases tested. Overall, 12 of the 15 biopsies studied with these techniques showed immunologic or genotypic support for malignant lymphoma. The results of this study demonstrate that the floral variant of follicular lymphoma does indeed represent a malignant lymphoma.

Intraventricular and subarachnoid hemorrhage resulting from necrotizing vasculitis of the choroid plexus in a patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome

Neurologic symptoms are common in patients with the Churg-Strauss syndrome and often manifest as a peripheral neuropathy of the mononeuritis multiplex type secondary to vasculitis. Reports of central nervous system involvement is less frequent and ranges from psychiatric disturbances to cerebral hemorrhage. We report the first case of pathologically documented vasculitis involving the choroid plexus causing massive and fatal intraventricular and subarachnoid hemorrhages in a 47-year-old patient with Churg-Strauss syndrome.

Meningioangiomatosis: an immunocytochemical study

Meningioangiomatosis (MA) is a rare malformative lesion of the central nervous system. It has generally been thought that the main cells forming this lesion are derived from arachnoidal cap cells. We report a case of MA in which histochemical, immunoperoxidase and electron microscopic studies did not support a meningothelial origin of this lesion. Rather, the lesion in this case appears to be a vascular malformation with the dominant cells being fibroblastic, derived from vessel walls; however, their origin from arachnoid cap cells that differentiated into fibroblast-like cells could not be totally ruled out. Residual neurons within the lesion contained neurofibrillary tangles with ultrastructural and immunostaining properties identical to those seen in Alzheimer's disease except for the absence of A4 amyloid.

Comparison of methods for calculating glomerular filtration rate: technetium-99m-DTPA scintigraphic analysis, protein-free and whole-plasma clearance of technetium-99m-DTPA and iodine-125-iothalamate clearance

True glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured in normal volunteers and in patients with normal and impaired renal function by the iothalamate clearance (IC) method of Sigman. Within 24 hr, GFR was also determined by two other methods: technetium-99m- (99mTc) DTPA scintigraphic analysis (SA) utilizing a modification of the Gates computer program, and by measuring disappearance of 99mTc-DTPA from whole plasma (WPC) and from protein-free ultrafiltered plasma (PFPC). Determinations of GFR by IC and by PFPC methods were virtually identical (mean absolute error 5.36 ml/min, r = 0.99, p greater than 0.05). GFRs measured in protein-free, ultrafiltered plasma differed significantly from those obtained from whole plasma only in sicker patients and in those taking multiple medications (in whom alterations in protein-binding of DTPA may be seen). The SA method correlated less well with the iodine-125-(125I) IC method than did either the protein-free or whole-plasma clearance methods (mean absolute error 32.36 ml/min, r = 0.74, p less than 0.05). However, the SA method provided useful information with respect to differential (split) renal function.