comparative scanning electron microscopic study on the tongue of the African beauty snake [psammophis sibilans] and Schokari sand snake [psammophis Schokari] [peptilia, serpents, colubridae]

The morphological characteristics of the tongue of the African beauty snake [Psammophis sibilans] collected from Beheira and the schokari sand snake [Psammophis schokari] collected from Mattrouh and Sinai were compared by scanning electron microscopy. The surface morphology, location and regular distribution of the epithelial cells on the dorsal side of the fork are relatively the same among both species. These cells are covered by microstructures in the form of microfacets, micropores, microvilli and microridges. The function of microfacets might be for the absorption of chemical substances, secretion of granules and protection of the epithelium. The microvilli in the unforked portion are predominant in all species, while microridges and cilia are less pronounced. The microridges were observed only in Psammophis schokari collected from Mattrouh, while cilia were observed in Psammophis schokari collected from Sinai and Psammophis sibilans. The presence or absence of cilia and microridges may be related to the external environment rather than a conservative character of snake tongue

Cutting-needle thyroid biopsy in the pre-operative evaluation of isotopically cold, solitary, solid thyroid nodules

A solitary, solid, cold thyroid nodule needs further scrutiny as a significant number of them may be malignant. We evaluated the use of a cutting-needle biopsy in this situation for its safety and utility in reliably differentiating a benign from a malignant lesion. Out of 116 patients with solid, solitary, cold nodules screened initially, 66 had cutting-needle biopsy carried out. These patients were divided into four categories; malignant [n= 4], suspicious [n = 19], benign [n = 39] and inadequate [n=4, excluded from the subsequent analysis] on the cutting-needle biopsy results. All the patients underwent surgical excision of the lesion and the excised material was examined by an independent pathologist, to be divided into benign [n=58] and malignant [n=4] lesions. The second pathologist was unaware of the previous needle biopsy result. Three out of four lesions considered to be malignant on needle biopsy were confirmed to be so. One was a benign lesion. 1 out of 19 suspicious lesions on the needle biopsy turned out to be malignant on subsequent examination, while all 39 benign lesions were confirmed to be so on excision biopsy examination. Considering malignant and suspicious lesions together as "potentially malignant" gives this procedure a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 17.4% in detecting malignancy in such thyroid nodules