THE USE OF CD31 AND COLLAGEN-IV AS VASCULAR MARKERS - A STUDY OF 56 VASCULAR-LESIONS

A monoclonal antibody against the endothelial cell adhesion molecule C D31 (endo-CAM, PECAM-1) was tested on wax embedded tissue of 56 cases of vascular lesions including benign and malignant vascular neoplasms. Additional preparations were stained with antibodies to type IV colla gen and to von Willebrand factor/Factor VIII-RAG (vWf). Our results pr ove reliability of CD31 and its superiority to vWf in the labelling of endothelium and its subsets in such lesions, with the exception of ly mphangiomas. As markers for basal lamina collagen and endothelium resp ectively, type IV collagen and CD31 together provide a powerful tool f or 1) the diagnosis of endothelial neoplasms and 2) the definition of endothelial, mural and pericytic or perivascular tissue compartments i n vascular lesions of complex architecture, Hence, we use CD31 and typ e IV collagen in cases of presumed vascular neoplasms, adding other ma rkers to the panel in accordance with the differential diagnosis, as w ell as in the recognition of compromised endothelia, such as in vascul ar invasion by various malignant neoplasms.