Paul E. Steiner

Additional observations on maternal pulmonary embolism by amniotic fluid

Abstract Two additional cases of maternal pulmonary embolism by amniotic fluid are presented. Lanugo hair is illustrated as a component of the embolic material. Existence of the sublethal form of this condition is shown and the subsequent fate of the human emboli is found to be approximately similar to that described by us in experimental animals. The occurrence of this phenomenon following laparotrachelotomy in the absence of labor contractions is reported.

Spontaneous Diabetes Mellitus in the Dog: An Account of Eight Cases

The literature on spontaneous diabetes in dogs is sparse and is confined almost exclusively to veterinary publications. As summarized recently by Schlotthauer and Millar, it contains reports of 42 cases including eight of their own. Clinical, chemical and pathologic data are sketchy. The frequency of the disease appears to be about one per thousand. It affects females predominantly and occurs from one year of age upward. All cases reported by Schlotthauer and Millar in which necropsy was performed showed either destruction of the pancreas, apparently by inflammatory processes, or, more commonly, extensive abnormalities of the islets of Langerhans. These consisted of diminution in number, hyalinization, fibrosis and, in one case, possibly hydropic degeneration. Those animals with the pancreas destroyed had fatty diarrhea and flatulence in addition to the usual thirst and polyuria. Renal lesions occurred frequently but are incompletely described.

Degenerative Lesions in Dogs with Experimental Diabetes

The search for the cause of diabetic vascular disease in man is beset with two major difficulties. The first is that of separating the possible effects of constitution or heredity from those of diabetes itself. The question of genetic influences arises because of the occurrence of well-marked vascular lesions in some patients with very mild diabetes and their virtual absence in others with severe diabetes even of long duration, situations that would not be expected if the diabetic state alone were involved. The second difficulty is that of determining conclusively whether good control of glycosuria prevents, and poor control favors, vascular complications in most if not all patients. The problem here is that it is almost impossible for any physician to know with certainty the habitual level of diabetic control that prevails in his patients for the ten to twenty years that are usually required for degenerative changes to appear. It would seem that both obstacles might be overcome by the study of animals in which diabetes is induced experimentally, thus excluding genetic factors, and which can be observed daily under known conditions for long periods of time. Several investigators have reported studies of the blood vessels in experimental diabetes, but in general, the number of animals has been small and results have been inconsistent. Fisher described severe calcific arteriosclerosis in a subtotally depancreatized dog between one and two years of age which was sacrificed after eight months of intermittently controlled diabetes. Dragstedt reported

A Cancerogenic Extract from Human Bile and Gall Bladders.

The possibility that human bile might contain substances which have cancerogenic activity was suggested by the discovery that a powerful cancerogen, methylcholanthrene, could be made from bile acids,1-3 by the incidence of carcinoma of the biliary system, where comparatively few cells give rise to numerous tumors, and by discovery that extracts of human liver have cancerogenic activity. 4 Some of this material might be excreted in the bile and induce tumors in the biliary passages, and in the gastrointestinal tract. Human bile has not previously been reported to induce sarcomas at the site of injection. Using ox bile, Turner 5 induced 1 sarcoma in 75 mice that lived over 34 weeks. Bürger and Uiker 6 induced only leukemialike changes in the liver and spleen of mice with an emulsion of human bile. Neufach and Shabad 7 also induced no tumors at the site of injection of a benzene extract of human bile, but stated that the incidence of various tumors in distant organs was greater than in controls. Methods. Human gall bladder bile and some of the gall bladders from which it was obtained were collected from adults. Approximately 40% of these persons died with malignant tumors. The dried residue, weighing 2400 g, was saponified with alcoholic potassium hydroxide by refluxing on a steam bath for 24 hr. After repeated extractions with ethylene dichloride the extracts were combined and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate. The extract was then filtered and the ethylene dichloride distilled in partial vacuum. The residue was resaponified with alcoholic potassium hydroxide for 4 hr, and then extracted, dehydrated, filtered, and distilled as before. The nonsaponifiable residue weighed 38.5 g.

Epithelial Hyperplasia of Hassall's Bodies of Thymus Gland Induced by Methylcholanthrene

Summary Methylcholanthrene pellets implanted into the thymus gland of young guinea pigs induced hyperplasia of Hassalls bodies and of the thymic reticulum near the pellet, squamous epithelialization of the pellet space, small epithelial cysts, and degeneration of the small thymocytes. These new epithelia show intercellular bridges and keratohyaline formation, and since they arise from Hassalls bodies they show the epithelial nature of the latter.

Some Effects of Alloxan on the Canine Kidney, with Special Reference to the Glomerulus.

Summary In 2 dogs which did not become diabetic following repeated doses of alloxan, serial biopsies of the kidney showed the late development of glomerular lesions. These lagged behind the usual tubular degeneration and appeared both in time and in type to be consequent to the latter. Similar studies on dogs receiving a single dose of alloxan and surviving for comparable periods of time showed only minimal glomerular changes.

A Toxic Factor in Tissues in cases of Nonspecific Ulcerative Colitis.

Summary A toxic factor was demonstrated in extracts of the liver and lungs in cases of nonspecific ulcerative colitis. A factor with similar toxic properties was present in lesser amounts or in milder form in an occasional control extract of liver, and in lungs of stillborn infants, but not in adult control lungs or infant livers.