Gallbladder localization of heterotopic pancreas (HP) is uncommon and very rarely gives rise to symptoms. Herein we report a case of HP found in the gallbladder neck presented with signs and symptoms of cholecystitis. The patient was a 40-year old male, suffering from epigastric pain, abdominal fullness and fever. On physical examination, the right upper abdomen was tender with a positive Murphy's sign. Ultrasonographic examination showed a hydropic gallbladder without stones and he underwent a cholecystectomy. Pathological examination revealed an intramural nodule (9 mm) in the neck region which is consisted of acini, ducts and islet cells of an aberrant pancreatic tissue. Although HP is encountered rarely in the gallbladder and is found incidentally during pathological studies, this case emphasizes that HP might cause symptoms and present clinically as cholecystitis. For this reason, in patients presenting with symptomatic gallbladder diseases, including cholecystitis without any other pathology, HP should be taken into consideration before it is diagnosed as "idiopathic''.

Angiogenesis progresses together with fibrogenesis during chronic liver injury. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha), a master regulator of homeostasis, plays a pivotal role in hypoxia-induced angiogenesis through its regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The association between hypoxia, angiogenesis and VEGF expression has been demonstrated in experimental cirrhosis. However, expression of HIF-1alpha has yet to be reported. The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of HIF-1alpha expression during experimental liver fibrosis and the relationships between HIF-1alpha expression, VEGF expression and angiogenesis. Cirrhosis was induced in male Wistar rats by intraperitoneal administration of diethyl nitrosamine (DEN) (100 mg/kg, once a week). The serial sections from liver tissues were stained with anti-HIF-1alpha, anti-VEGF and anti-CD34 antibodies before being measured by light microscopy. Our results showed that HIF-1alpha expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis (p<0.01). Moreover, its expression was found to be correlated with angiogenesis (r=0.916) and VEGF expression (r=0.969). The present study demonstrates that HIF-1alpha might have a role in the development of angiogenesis via regulation of VEGF during experimental liver fibrogenesis and suggests that this factor could be a potential target in the manipulation of angiogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.

Intraosseous vascular lesions are rare conditions. They are most commonly seen in the vertebral column and skull; nevertheless, the mandible is a quite rare location. In this report, we present a case of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma in the mandible and discuss the clinical and radiological features. A 28-year-old male patient attended to our clinic with a complaint of painless swelling of mandible. Clinical evaluation revealed a bone-hard, smooth-surfaced, immobile mass in the left mandibular lingual area. The patient was evaluated with panoramic and occlusal radiography and computed tomography. The lesion surgically excised and pathological examination revealed an intraosseous cavernous hemangioma. Follow-up imaging 1 year later with cone beam computed tomography revealed recurrence of the lesion. The conclusion of this paper; when a bone hard, well-shaped mass was seen in the mandible, the possibility of intraosseous hemangioma must be remembered and before surgical procedure detailed radiographic evaluation should be performed. Key words:Hemangioma, intraosseous, mandible, cavernous, cbct.

The correlative evidence of the link between TSP-1 and fibrosis or angiogenesis provided by this study suggests that besides its role as a strong promoter of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1), TSP-1 might have an additional role in liver fibrogenesis by stimulating angiogenesis and this protein could be a potential target to prevent fibrogenesis in chronic inflammatory diseases of the liver.

Background. Proto-oncogenes, particularly ras, may not only affect cell proliferation but also contribute to angiogenesis by influencing both proangiogenic and antiangiogenic mediators. The aim of this study was to investigate whether any relationship exists between ras expression and angiogenesis during diethylnitrosamine- (DEN-) induced experimental liver fibrosis. Materials and Methods. Liver cirrhosis was induced in rats by intraperitoneal injections of DEN. The animals were sacrificed 2 weeks after the last administrations and a hepatectomy was performed. Masson's trichrome staining was used in the evaluation of the extent of liver fibrosis. The vascular density in portal and periportal areas was assessed by determining the count of CD34 labeled vessel sections. For quantitative evaluation of H-ras expression, in each section positive and negative cells were counted. Results. In fibrotic group H-ras expression was higher than that in nonfibrotic group and was more widespread in cirrhotic livers. Friedman's test showed that there was a significant correlation between H-ras expression and VD (P < 0.01). Conclusion. The results of this descriptive study reveal that H-ras expression gradually increases according to the severity of fibrosis and strongly correlates with angiogenesis.