ABSTRACT
Introduction: Breast carcinoma is the leading cause ofcancer mortality among females. Estrogen and Progesteronereceptors (ER, PR) and HER2 have been used for theranosticsin breast cancer. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC)can yield highly cellular material for cytological diagnosis.Predictive biomarker assessment can be done on cytologicspecimens to know the patient’s eligibility for endocrinetherapy and anti- HER2- targeted therapy. Cell blocks furthercan increase the diagnostic accuracy through morphology andthe use of immunohistochemistry (IHC). The present studywas undertaken to evaluate immunohistochemical expressionof estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2 in fineneedle aspiration cell blocks and surgical biopsies in primarybreast carcinoma cases.Material and methods: IHC for ER, PR and HER2 wasassessed on 50 pre chemotherapy breast carcinoma cell blocks(fixed in 10% formalin) and subsequent tissue sections.The scoring for ER/ PR was done according to ASCO/CAPguidelines. Strong circumferential membrane staining ingreater than 10% of tumor cells was considered positive forHER2.Results: Immunostaining assessment on cell block and theircorresponding tumor tissues showed a good concordance: ER(92%), PR (92%) and HER2 (93.75%). Taking histology asthe final outcome, the sensitivity of ER, PR and HER2 on cellblock was 92.30%, 86.36% and 91.67%, respectively, whilespecificity was 92.85%, 96.43% and 94.44%, respectively.Conclusion: IHC on cell blocks from breast carcinoma casesis useful especially when planning neoadjuvant chemotherapy.The pre analytic and analytic variables should be validated tooptimize the diagnostic utility of cell blocks.
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACTBackground: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the prescribing pattern of hypolipidaemic drugs in the outpatient department of cardiology in a tertiary care hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the department of cardiology for the period of 3 months. A total of 526 prescriptions were analyzed for variants such as the disease patterns, the type of hypolipidaemic drugs which are prescribed for those diseases, the prescribing daily dose of the hypolipidaemic drugs and the prescribing daily dose/daily defined dose ratio of the drugs.Results: On evaluation of the prescriptions, it was conferred that both the patients of normal lipid profile (34.77%) and abnormal lipid profile (65.18%) were prescribed hypolipidaemic drug. Diabetes with hypertension (35.74%) was the most common disease for which hypolipidaemic drugs were prescribed. Atorvastatin (30.98%) was the most common drug which was prescribed as monotherapy, whereas atorvastatin with aspirin and clopidogrel (17.49%) was the most common drug prescribed in combination.Conclusions: Use of statin has become very prevalent with increasing trends of use in both normal and abnormal lipid profile patients, suggesting consideration of rational use of statins to follow good prescribing pattern so that morbidity and mortality can be prevented.
ABSTRACT
Aim: To describe the clinicopathological features in patients with fungal infections of the central nervous system (CNS) presenting as mass lesions. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of records obtained from 10 patients was done with histopathologically confirmed fungal infections presenting as ICSOL, diagnosed in the department of pathology. Clinical features at presentation, findings of radiological investigations performed and histopathology were noted for each patient and subjected for analysis. Results: Infection was higher in males, and paranasal sinusitis was the most common predisposing factor. Location was intraparenchymal followed by sphenoid wing. Four dural-based lesions mimicked meningioma clinically. The most common fungus identified was zygomycosis (seven cases), followed by phaeohyphomycosis (two cases) and aspergillosis (one case). Conclusion: There is a rising trend of CNS mycosis, both in immunocompromised and immunocompetent patients. Intracranial fungal granuloma may mimic radiologically as glioma or meningioma, therefore a high index of suspicion is needed to detect early CNS fungal infections, especially in immunocompetent young patients with no predisposing illness. Fungi should always be excluded in patients with inflammatory or granulomatous pathology of CNS.