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Pathology is practiced by visual inspection of histochemically stained tissue slides. While the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain is most commonly used, special stains can provide additional contrast to different tissue components. Here, we demonstrate the utility of supervised learning-based computational stain transformation from H&E to special stains (Masson's Trichrome, periodic acid-Schiff and Jones silver stain) using kidney needle core biopsy tissue sections. Based on the evaluation by three renal pathologists, followed by adjudication by a fourth pathologist, we show that the generation of virtual special stains from existing H&E images improves the diagnosis of several non-neoplastic kidney diseases, sampled from 58 unique subjects (P = 0.0095). A second study found that the quality of the computationally generated special stains was statistically equivalent to those which were histochemically stained. This stain-to-stain transformation framework can improve preliminary diagnoses when additional special stains are needed, also providing significant savings in time and cost.

Background: Membranous glomerulonephritis is typically classified as idiopathic or secondary to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), hepatitis B, drugs, toxins, other infections, or malignancy. Not infrequently in some patients without a definite diagnosis of SLE, pathologic features of secondary membranous nephropathy are seen e.g., mesangial and/or subendothelial deposits, tubuloreticular inclusions, and full house immunofluorescence. In these patients, there is uncertainty about the etiology, response to therapy, and prognosis of membranous GN. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 98 patients with membranous GN at San Francisco General Hospital and John Stroger Hospital of Cook County over a 10-year period. Data were collected and analyzed using SPSS.18. Results: Thirty-nine (40 %) had idiopathic membranous GN (Group 1), thirty-six (37 %) had lupus membranous GN (Group 2) and twenty-three (23 %) had some pathological features of secondary membranous GN, but no definite etiology of membranous GN (Group 3). At baseline (at time of renal biopsy) and after mean follow-up of 3.5 years, the average serum creatinine (in mg/dL) in Group 1 was (1.6 ± 1.0 versus 1.6 ± 1.7), Group 2 was (1.8 ± 2.5 versus 1.2 ± 0.9) and Group 3 was (1.1 ± 0.4 versus 1.27 ± 0.83), respectively. For the same time points, the average urine protein to creatinine ratio (g/g) in Group 1 was (9.8 ± 7.1 versus 5.7 ± 6.7), Group 2 was (4.2 ± 3.9 versus 1.7 ± 2.2), and Group 3 was (7.4 ± 5.7 versus 3.1 ± 3.8). In addition, during the follow-up period, eleven of 39 (28 %) in Group 1, two of 36 (6 %) in Group 2, and three of 23 (13 %) in Group 3 progressed to end-stage renal disease and were started on dialysis. Conclusions: It appears that patients with lupus membranous GN have better renal prognosis than patients with idiopathic membranous GN. The renal prognosis for patients with pathological features of lupus membranous but no diagnosis of systemic lupus (lupus-like membranous GN) falls in between. Further studies are needed to determine if Group 3 patients can (a) definitively be classified as true idiopathic membranous GN or lupus membranous GN or (b) they have a separate disease from either M-type phospholipase A receptor membranous nephropathy or systemic lupus-induced membranous nephropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study evaluated expected tumor control and normal tissue toxicity for prostate volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with and without radiation boosts to an intraprostatically dominant lesion (IDL), defined by 18 F-choline positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Methods and Materials Thirty patients with localized prostate cancer underwent 18 F-choline PET/CT before treatment. Two VMAT plans, plan 79 Gy and plan 100-105 Gy , were compared for each patient. The whole-prostate planning target volume (PTV prostate ) prescription was 79 Gy in both plans, but plan 100-105 Gy added simultaneous boost doses of 100 Gy and 105 Gy to the IDL, defined by 60% and 70% of maximum prostatic uptake on 18 F-choline PET (IDL suv60% and IDL suv70% , respectively, with IDL suv70% nested inside IDL suv60% to potentially enhance tumor specificity of the maximum point dose). Plan evaluations included histopathological correspondence, isodose distributions, dose-volume histograms, tumor control probability (TCP), and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Results Planning objectives and dose constraints proved feasible in 30 of 30 cases. Prostate sextant histopathology was available for 28 cases, confirming that IDL suv60% adequately covered all tumor-bearing prostate sextants in 27 cases and provided partial coverage in 1 case. Plan 100-105 Gy had significantly higher TCP than plan 79 Gy across all prostate regions for α/β ratios ranging from 1.5 Gy to 10 Gy ( P <.001 for each case). There were no significant differences in bladder and femoral head NTCP between plans and slightly lower rectal NTCP (endpoint: grade ≥ 2 late toxicity or rectal bleeding) was found for plan 100-105 Gy . Conclusions VMAT can potentially increase the likelihood of tumor control in primary prostate cancer while observing normal tissue tolerances through simultaneous delivery of a steep radiation boost to a 18 F-choline PET-defined IDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Necrotizing fasciitis is a severe soft-tissue infection with a high mortality rate. There is little literature on the relationship between the ultrasonographic finding of fluid accumulation along the deep fascia and the diagnosis and prognosis of necrotizing fasciitis. This retrospective study showed that when fluid accumulation was present along the deep fascia, patients with clinically suspected necrotizing fasciitis had a higher probability of having necrotizing fasciitis. The ultrasonographic finding of fluid accumulation with a cutoff point of more than 2 mm of depth had the best accuracy (72.7%) for diagnosing necrotizing fasciitis. In regard to the prognosis of necrotizing fasciitis, when fluid accumulation was present along the deep fascia, patients with necrotizing fasciitis had a longer length of hospital stay and were at risk of amputation or mortality. Ultrasonography is a point-of-care imaging tool that facilitates the diagnosis and prognosis of necrotizing fasciitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]