Search

The case is reported of a World War II veteran who developed an angiosarcoma at the site of wounding 46 years previously. The wound was complicated by retained foreign material and chronic infection involving bone. The patient died, 6 weeks after tumour diagnosis, from a complication of the disease. There is slight but definite risk of tumour development in association with retained foreign material. This risk may be greater in older patients who have retained this foreign material for long periods and where the presence of the material is complicated by chronic infection.

Abstract Objective:To document the emergence of new foci of Mycobacterium ulceransinfection (Bairnsdale ulcer) in Victoria. Methods:From data kept by one of us (J A H) and records from the Mycobacterium Reference Laboratory, Fairfield Hospital, we reviewed cases of M. ulceransinfection in Victoria between 1980 and 1995, and identified those apparently acquired outside the east Gippsland endemic region. A case was defined as a person with a lesion suggestive of M. ulceransinfection, from which the organism had been cultured or, in the absence of culture information, from which a histological specimen characteristic of M. ulceransinfection had been obtained. Results:We identified 45 people who appeared to have acquired their infections in Victoria but outside the east Gippsland region. A new focus appeared on the northern shores of Western Port, near Melbourne, in 1982, and there was a dramatic increase in cases between 1991 and 1994 associated with foci on Phillip Island, and in the Frankston‐Langwarrin area of outer suburban Melbourne. Single cases came from Crib Point, Narre Warren and Bendigo. Conclusions:There have been at least three new foci of M. ulceransinfection within 80 km of Melbourne since 1982. Victorian clinicians should consider the possibility of Bairnsdale ulcer when dealing with unusual skin lesions.

This paper describes humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM) associated with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the breast and its association with assayed levels of parathyroid hormone related protein (PTHrP). A 57-year-old woman presented with locally advanced SCC of the breast. The diagnosis was supported by serum analysis and histological and immunohistochemical findings. She was initially treated with chemotherapy to reduce the tumor bulk but developed symptomatic hypercalcemia after one course. The hypercalcemia was effectively treated with intravenous amino hydroxy propildene diphosphonate. Subsequently the tumor progressed despite multimodatity therapy and was associated with recurrent hypercatcemia. The patient died nine months after presentation.

We report on the rare finding of pituitary tissue, including both adenohypophysis and neurohypophsis, in a mature cystic teratoma of the ovary removed from a 26 year old female at the time of cesarean section. Immunocytochemistry of the ectopic anterior pituitary component showed pregnancyrelated changes that have previously only been described in pituitaries obtained at autopsy.

A previously well 43-yr-old man with congenital hypospadias presented with a fungating lesion of 2 mths duration and surrounding the ventral urethral opening, After biopsy showed this to be a squamous cell carcinoma, a definitive procedure of partial penile amputation and urethreplasty was performed. This is believed to be the first reported case of squamous cell carcinoma of the distal urethra in conjunction with hypospadias.