Background-The objective of this study was to identify the prognostic indicators in patients with suspected myocarditis who underwent endomyocardial biopsy. Methods and Results-Between 1994 and 2007, 181 consecutive patients (age, 42Ϯ15 years) with clinically suspected viral myocarditis were enrolled and followed up for a mean of 59Ϯ42 months. Endomyocardial biopsies were studied for inflammation with histological (Dallas) and immunohistological criteria. Virus genome was detected by polymerase chain reaction. The primary end point was time to cardiac death or heart transplantation. In 38% of the patients (nϭ69), the Dallas criteria were positive. Immunohistological signs of inflammation were shown in 50% (nϭ91). Genomes of cardiotropic virus species were detected in 79 patients (44%). During follow-up, 22% of the patients (nϭ40) reached the primary end point. Three independent predictors were identified for the primary end point, namely New York Heart Association class III or IV at entry (hazard ratio, 3.20; 95% confidence interval,

A nested multiplex PCR (NMPCR) assay that combines degenerate E6/E7 consensus primers and typespecific primers was evaluated for the detection and typing of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes 6/11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, and 68 using HPV DNA-containing plasmids and cervical scrapes (n ‫؍‬ 1,525). The performance of the NMPCR assay relative to that of conventional PCR with MY09-MY11 and GP5؉-GP6؉ primers, and nested PCR with these two primer sets (MY/GP) was evaluated in 495 cervical scrapes with corresponding histologic and cytologic findings. HPV prevalence rates determined with the NMPCR assay were 34.7% (102 of Human papillomomaviruses (HPVs) constitute a group of more than 100 different genotypes associated with benign and malignant neoplasms of skin and mucous membranes (5, 34). Approximately 40 different HPV genotypes have been detected in the anogenital mucosa (34). On the basis of their epidemiological association with the development of cervical carcinoma, a group of so-called high-risk HPV genotypes has been defined. These include HPV genotype 16 (HPV-16),

The prognostic significance of somatic activating codon 816 c-kit mutations in pediatric urticaria pigmentosa has not yet been established in detail. Detection of such mutations in archival paraffin-embedded biopsies is usually hampered by an abundance of surrounding normal cells. Here we describe a method for the selective amplification and specific detection of c-kit mutation Asp816-->Val in complete tissue sections cut from up to 24-year-old paraffin blocks. Peptide nucleic acid-mediated polymerase chain reaction clamping of the wild-type allele was combined with on-line mutation detection using oligonucleotide hybridization probes. In DNA extracted from HMC-1 cells heterozygously carrying the c-kit mutation Asp816-->Val, the one-tube assay allowed specific detection of this mutation in a more than 1000-fold excess of normal background DNA within 1 hour and without the need for additional analytical steps. In a series of 38 cases with pediatric urticaria pigmentosa we detected c-kit codons 815 and 816 mutations in 16 cases. Mutation detection did not correlate with clinical outcome after a mean follow-up of 11.2 years. In conclusion, the procedure described may represent an ideal screening tool for all kinds of clinical applications, using point mutations as markers of, for example, early events in carcinogenesis, circulating metastatic tumor cells, and minimal residual disease.

No abstract