Analysis of 12 206 cases of external pathology consultation / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the concordance rate of external pathology consultation referred by hospitals of various scales and to evaluate the value of such practice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 12 206 external pathology consultation cases referred by outside institutions were encountered during a 5-year period. The final pathologic diagnoses in 3289 cases were compared with the original interpretations. Each case was reviewed by at least two experienced pathologists. Immunohistochemical study was carried in selected examples. The pathologic findings were categorized as follows: (1) no diagnostic discrepancy, (2) minor diagnostic discrepancy and (3) major diagnostic discrepancy.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Amongst the 12 206 cases studied, 7198 cases (59.0%) were sampled from the digestive tract, hematolymphoid system, soft tissue or breast. Seven thousand eight hundred and sixty-five cases (64.4%) were referred by small and medium-sized hospitals, while only 948 cases (7.8%) were referred by large hospitals (ranked IIIA). The diagnoses in 1842 cases (15.1%) were confirmed upon examination of the original paraffin sections, while the diagnoses in 2569 cases (21.1%) were made with cutting of additional sections from the paraffin blocks. On the other hand, the diagnoses in 7795 cases (63.8%) were arrived with the application of ancillary studies, including histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. Amongst the 3289 cases reviewed, diagnostic agreement was noted in 582 cases (17.7%), while major diagnostic discrepancy was observed in 113 cases (3.4%), including a change in diagnosis from "benign" to "malignant" in 31 cases (0.9%) and from "malignant" to "benign" in 38 cases (1.1%). The pathologic classification of the original diagnoses was modified in 44 cases (1.3%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>External pathology consultation is useful for patient management in small and medium-sized hospitals, especially in resolving difficult and controversial pathologic diagnoses. Application of ancillary techniques, including immunohistochemistry, further helps to clear up the potential diagnostic dilemma.</p>

BRG1 expression in prostate carcinoma by application of tissue microarray / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of gene BRG1 in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and adenocarcinoma, and the relationship between gene BRG1 expression and the clinicopathological features of prostate carcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Gene BRG1 expression was evaluated in 37 cases of human prostate carcinoma, 13 human prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and 14 human benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by using immunohistochemistry (EnVision method) and tissue microarray.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rates of BRG1 protein were 81.08% (30/37), 38.46% (5/13) and 14.28% (2/14) in prostate carcinoma, PIN and BPH, respectively, significantly higher in the first group than in the latter two (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in BRG1 gene expression either between PIN and BPH (P > 0.05) or between the groups of the moderate differentiation (the Gleason histologic grading: 5-7) and the lower one (the Gleason histologic grading: 8-10) (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>BRG1 may play an important role in the development of prostate carcinoma. Tissue microarray technology, with the advantages of high throughput, conciseness, rapidity, high efficiency, low cost, and nice reproducibility, has significant practical value and broad application prospects in pathology.</p>

A clinicopathologic study of dysembryoplstic neuroepithelial tumor / 中华病理学杂志

<p><b>UNLABELLED</b>OBJECTIVE To study the clinicopathologic features, radiologic findings, treatment modalities and prognosis of dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical features, histopathologic findings, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy of 18 cases of DNT were analyzed. Results Among the 18 cases studied, 14 were males and 4 females. The age of these patients ranged from 3 to 46 (mean age = 22. 8 years). Partial seizure was the main presenting symptom in all patients. The history of epilepsy could be as long as 17 years. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, the tumor was hypodense on T1 and hyperdense on T2. There was neither edema nor mass effect. All but 2 cases were supratentorial and intracortical in location. Ten cases were treated by complete surgical excision and the remaining 8 tumors were partially excised. In the 14 patients with follow-up data available, 13 survived for 1.4 to 11 years after the operation (with more than 10 years survival observed in 2 patients). The average survival period was 5.5 years. None of the cases showed tumor recurrence after operation. Histologically, all tumors demonstrated a multinodular architecture and were intracortical in location, sometimes with extension into the white matter. The characteristic "glioneuronal constituent" was an essential feature for making the diagnosis of DNT. The tumor was formed by an admixture of oligodendrocyte-like cells, mature neurons and astrocytes, with obvious microcystic changes. These neurons were often dispersed singly in the mucoid matrix. In most cases, the foci of cortical dysplasia were found in adjacent areas. Immunohistochemical study demonstrated positivity for synaptophysin, neurofilament and S-100 protein in the neurons and some oligodendrocyte-like cells. The staining of glial fibrillary acidic protein in the oligodendrocyte-like cells was negative. Electron microscopy showed early neuronal, astrocytic and oligodendroglial differentiation of the oligodendrocyte-like cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>DNT is a benign tumor (corresponding to WHO grade I) that can be cured by surgical excision, despite sometimes incomplete tumor removal. A correct diagnosis of this entity requires thorough understanding of the clinical, radiologic, histologic and immunohistochemical features.</p>