title: Electron microscopic observations and X-ray microanalysis of a multinucleated giant cell.
abstract: Giant cells and macrophages play important roles in defence and in reparative functions of the body. This paper describes a giant cell and macrophage present in an inflammatory mass in the temporal bone. X-ray microanalysis performed at the ultrastructural level revealed the presence of a very high iron content in the electron dense precipitates observed in both types of cells. The high iron content is probably due to phagocytosed haemosiderin, a breakdown product of free haemoglobin since there was evidence of haemorrhage present in the biological sections. As the tissue was chemically fixed, it also demonstrates that there is still a place for electron probe microanalysis in tissues (including archived specimens) which have undergone chemical fixation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, National University of Singapore, Singapore. antbaybh@nus.edu.sg
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Bay
authors.forename: Y G
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: T Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Yick
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Leong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004577:Electron Probe Microanalysis; D015726:Giant Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D007249:Inflammation / Q000473:pathology; D007501:Iron / Q000032:analysis; D008264:Macrophages / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron / Q000379:methods*; D013701:Temporal Bone / Q000473:pathology*; D016707:Tissue Fixation
chemical_list: D007501:Iron