OBJECTIVE AND METHODS: To investigate the utility of nuclear chromatin texture assessment in the differential diagnosis of follicular patterned lesions, by means of examining 76 samples previously submitted to the immunohistochemical protein analysis of HBME-1, CK-19 and galectina-3. RESULTS: HBME-1 confirmed to be the most sensitive marker of malignancy. A series of morphometric, densitometric and texture variables were useful in the discrimination of the different types of follicular lesions. Among these variables, r2, a parameter related to the granularity of […]

Unlike subclinical Cushing’s disease, adrenal subclinical Cushing’s syndrome is widely recognized. It is defined as an autonomous cortisol hyperproduction of mild intensity not causing specific clinical signs, but detectable biochemically as derangements of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function. Although Cushing’s disease accounts for the majority of hypercortisolism states, subclinical Cushing’s disease has been rarely reported. Three cases of subclinical Cushing’s disease due to pituitary corticotrophic macroadenomas, confirmed by immunohistochemistry, are presented in order to underscore its recognition by clinical endocrinologists and […]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Studies investigating the molecular pathogenesis of common thyroid neoplasms have shown some association between oncogenes expression and histological aggressiveness of thyroid tumors. We have investigated molecular changes in variants of thyroid papillary carcinoma (TPC), by analyzing the expression of proteins related to its tumorigenesis, and further, its own relationship to the prognosis. METHODS: We examined 32 surgical specimens of TPC obtained from 5 males and 27 females (mean ages of 52.6 and 46.5 years, respectively). Monoclonal antibodies […]