Osmotic nephrosis Osmotic nephrosis Osmotic nephrosis refers to structural changes that occur at the cellular level in the human kidney. Cells, primarily of the straight proximal tubule, swell due to the formation of large vacuoles in the cytoplasm. These vacuoles occur in the presence of large amounts of certain solutes circulating in the tubules. However, despite the condition's name, the solutes do not cause change through osmotic forces but through pinocytosis. Once inside the cytoplasm, pinocytic vacuoles combine with each other and with lysosomes to form large vacuoles that appear transparent under microscopic examination. There may be no symptomatic presentation with this
Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is a paraneoplastic syndrome associated with a broad variety of tumors including lung cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma and others. PCD is a rare condition that occurs in less than 1% of cancer patients. As is the case with other paraneoplastic syndromes, PCD is believed to be due to an autoimmune reaction targeted against components of the central nervous system, mostly to Purkinje cells. It is thought to be triggered when tumor cells (in PCD, most commonly ovarian or breast cancer) ectopically express proteins normally expressed in the cerebellum. This is