Background
The metastatic involvement of regional lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor for overall survival of skin cancer patients. The sonographic technique of freehand real‐time ...tissue elastography (RTE), which displays tissue rigidity as a colour overlay of the tissue image, was developed.
Objective
Our purpose was to evaluate the benefit of RTE for detecting lymph node metastases of skin cancer non‐invasively before operation.
Methods
We first selected lymph nodes of skin cancer patients which had already been diagnosed by biopsy as being reactive or metastatic, and then retrospectively collected images of RTE and B‐mode and colour Doppler ultrasound on those lymph nodes performed preoperatively. Twenty‐one lymph nodes from 12 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), 23 lymph nodes from 14 patients with malignant melanoma (MM) and 14 lymph nodes from six patients with extramammary Paget disease (Paget) were investigated. Elastographic images were assessed on a scale of one to four according to the percentage of high elasticity (hard) area (HEA) in the lymph node.
Results
In all three skin cancers, lymph nodes evaluated as grade 3 or 4 by RTE were metastatic. All lymph nodes evaluated as grade 1 or 2 by RTE were reactive in SCC, whereas some lymph nodes evaluated as grade 1 or 2 were metastatic in MM and Paget.
Conclusion
Real‐time tissue elastography may aid in distinguishing reactive lymph nodes from metastatic ones especially in SCC.
Systemic plasmacytosis is a rare skin disorder characterized by marked infiltration of plasma cells in the dermis. IgG4-related disease is pathologically characterized by lymphoplasmacytic ...infiltration rich in IgG4+ plasma cells, storiform fibrosis, and obliterative phlebitis, accompanied by elevated levels of serum IgG4. Reports of cases of systemic plasmacytosis with abundant infiltration of IgG4+ plasma cells has led to discussion about the relationship between systemic plasmacytosis and IgG4-related disease. This study examined IgG4+/IgG+ plasma cell ratios in 4 patients with systemic plasmacytosis and 12 patients with other skin diseases that show marked infiltration of plasma cells. Furthermore, we examined whether these cases met one of the pathological diagnostic criteria for IgG4-related disease (i.e. IgG4+/IgG plasma cells ratio of over 40%). Only one out of 4 patients with systemic plasmacytosis met the criterion. These results suggest that systemic plasmacytosis and IgG4-related disease are distinct diseases.
This Article reports on the influence of light irradiation on the stability of emulsions prepared using a photoresponsive gemini surfactant (C7-azo-C7) having an azobenzene skeleton as a spacer. When ...mixtures of trans C7-azo-C7 aqueous solution and n-octane are homogenized, stable emulsions are obtained in a specific region of weight fraction and surfactant concentration. Fluorescence microscopy observations using a small amount of fluorescent probes show that the stable emulsions are oil-in-water (O/W)-type. UV irradiation of stable O/W emulsions promotes the cis isomerization of trans C7-azo-C7 and leads to the coalescence of the oil (octane) droplets in the emulsions, that is, demulsification. While the equilibrated interfacial tension (IFT) between aqueous trans C7-azo-C7 solution and octane is almost the same as that between aqueous cis C7-azo-C7 and octane, the occupied area per molecule for C7-azo-C7 at octane/water interface decreases with the cis photoisomerization of trans isomer. Dynamic IFT measurement shows that UV irradiation to the interface between aqueous trans C7-azo-C7 solution and octane brings about an increase in the interfacial tension, indicating that the Gibbs free energy at the interface increases. From these results, the cis isomerization of trans C7-azo-C7 molecules at the O/W interface due to UV irradiation leads to direct contact between the water and octane phases, because of the reduction of molecular area at the interface, and subsequently makes the emulsions demulsified.
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