ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Immunohistochemical assessment of the hormone receptor status of breast carcinoma is a routine investigation. However, there is no worldwide consensus on the scoring system. The Quick Score is claimed to be a reliable scoring system, which assesses both the proportion of stained cells and the intensity of staining. AIMS: To assess the value of Quick Score in terms of accepted clinicopathological parameters and to document the prevalence of hormone receptor-positive breast carcinomas in the study sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinicopathological parameters of 151 breast cancers were compared with the Quick Scores for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The Quick Score for ER was 0 in 54.3% (82/151) and for PR was 0 in 51.7% (75/145), indicating no hormone receptor expression in the majority. The Nottingham grade and the mitotic count had a significant inverse relationship with the Quick Score for hormone receptor status. The Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) also had an inverse relationship with the hormone receptor status.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration is a simple technique to obtain material for early diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. Objective: To assess the value of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of tuberculous lymphadenitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 43 aspirates from patients who were clinically suspected to have tuberculous lymphadenitis were included in the study. Apart from FNAC, aspirates were smeared for Ziehl Neelsen stain and cultured on Middlebrook 7H9 and 7H10 media. Culture was considered the gold standard. Positive and negative predictive values and agreement between the gold standard and five diagnostic criteria were assessed. Kappa value was used to calculate the agreement. RESULTS: The presence of epithelioid cells either with caseation or positive Ziehl Neelsen had the highest agreement (kappa value 0.84), with high positive and negative predictive values (85.71% and 96.55%). Positive Ziehl Neelsen alone and presence of epithelioid cells with positive Ziehl Neelsen had 100% positive predictive values, but the kappa values were lower (0.62 and 0.52) with lower negative predictive values (83.33% and 81.08%). Epithelioid cells alone had a high negative predictive value (93.35%), but the positive predictive value was lower (84.62%). When epithelioid cells were taken together with caseation, the positive predictive value reduced further (83.33%). CONCLUSION: The presence of epithelioid cells either with caseation or positive Ziehl Neelsen stain appears to be the best diagnostic criteria, with a very good agreement with the gold standard and high positive and negative predictive values.