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Electron microscopic study of an ectopic pinealoma

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Summary

A specimen from a patient with an ectopic pinealoma located in the third ventricle was investigated by light and electron microscopy.

The study has demonstrated many small membrane-limited electron-dense granules in the pinealocyte-like principal tumor cells. They were similar to those found in the normal pineal body of mammals and probably represent granules of biogenic amines.

The literature of biochemical studies on the secretion of the pineal body and the pinealoma was reviewed as supportive evidence of our ultrastructural findings.

Zusammenfassung

Eine Gewebsprobe aus einem ektopischen Pinealom des 3. Ventrikels wurde licht- und elektronenmikroskopisch untersucht. In den Pinealocyten-ähnlichen Hauptzellen des Tumors wurden viele kleine membranbegrenzte elektronendichte Granula nachgewiesen. Sie waren ähnlich denen in normalen Pinealiszellen der Säuger und entsprechen wahrscheinlich Granula biogener Amine. Aus der Literatur über biochemische Untersuchungen über die Sekretion der Pinealis und des Pinealoms ergeben sich unterstützende Argumente zu der Deutung der eigenen ultrastrukturellen Befunde.

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Author notes

  1. Kazuaki Misugi M. D., D. Med. Sci. (Senior Clinical Traince)

    Present address: The Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

    Kazuaki Misugi M. D., D. Med. Sci. (Senior Clinical Traince), Leopold Liss M.D. & Edward J. Bradel B.S.

  2. Children's Hospital Research Foundation, 43205, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A

    Kazuaki Misugi M. D., D. Med. Sci. (Senior Clinical Traince), Leopold Liss M.D. & Edward J. Bradel B.S.

Authors
  1. Kazuaki Misugi M. D., D. Med. Sci.
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  2. Leopold Liss M.D.
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  3. Edward J. Bradel B.S.
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Additional information

This investigation was supported in part by Research Grant CA-07874 from the National Cancer Institute, The Public Health Service.

Research supported in part by Grant, NB-HD 06905-01 from the Public Healths Service, U.S. National Institutes of Health.

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Misugi, K., Liss, L. & Bradel, E.J. Electron microscopic study of an ectopic pinealoma. Acta Neuropathol 9, 346–356 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371193

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371193

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