glycogen and Spinal-Neoplasms

The ultrastructure of three cases of osteoblastoma is described. The osteoblasts resemble normal osteoblasts with a few exceptions: irregular, indented nuclei, and occasional mitochondria with curved cristae and electron-lucent areas. The osteocytes and osteoclasts basically resemble their normal counterparts. There are also osteoprogenitor cells in different stages of maturation, some containing glycogen. The ultrastructure of an additional case histologically classified as aggressive osteoblastoma is described. It is essentially similar to the previous three cases of typical osteoblastoma. The only exception is the presence of osteoblasts with electron-lucent nuclei and less prominent organelles than the typical osteoblastoma cells have markedly indented and multilobed nuclei, dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum and lipid droplets. However, these differences from osteoblastoma cells are not pathognomonic. The final diagnosis of osteoblastic tumors rests at the light microscopy level.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Bone Neoplasms; Cell Differentiation; Female; Glycogen; Humans; Humerus; Lumbar Vertebrae; Male; Metatarsus; Mitochondria; Osteoblasts; Osteoclasts; Osteocytes; Osteoma, Osteoid; Osteosarcoma; Spinal Neoplasms; Thoracic Vertebrae

The electron microscopic study of a sacral chordoma, the cells of which contain variable amounts of glycogen, allowed to characterize different stages in the evolution of the tumoral cells. The young cells contain almost no glycogen ; progressively it becomes more abundant and fills up almost the whole cytoplasm. At the end of the evolution glycogen disappears while the cell becomes vacuolated. This suggests that enzymatic lysis of this polysaccharide could be the cause of the vacuolation which finally produces the physaliferous cell. Comparison between the cells of the chordoma and those of the normal notochord shows some morphological similarities in the development of these cells. These different data may be useful for a classification of the various types of chordomas.

Topics: Adult; Cell Nucleolus; Cell Nucleus; Chordoma; Chromatin; Cytoplasm; Glycogen; Humans; Male; Sacrum; Spinal Neoplasms; Vacuoles

Topics: Aged; Chordoma; Female; Glycogen; Glycosaminoglycans; Histocytochemistry; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Neoplasm Metastasis; Rectal Neoplasms; Sacrum; Spinal Neoplasms