ABSTRACT
The chief limitation of Ultra Fast Papanicolaou (UFP) stain, suggested by Yang and Alvarez (1995), is that, Richard Allan Haematoxylin (RA-H) and Richard Allan Cytostain (RA-C), used in the staining procedure are not universally available. It has not been established so far, whether, changes in the reagents and their proportions depending on the local availability, influence the performance of the stain. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and applicability of a modified UFP stain to suit our local laboratory supplies of chemical dyes, as applied to the permanent smears prepared from Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) of breast lumps. In the present study, smears from FNA from 100 breast lumps were stained by the modified UFP stain. The modification consisted of following two changes: use of Gill's Haematoxylin instead of RAH and omission of Orange G from cytostain. Eighty Six breast aspirates were adequate for interpretation. Smears showed transparent cells with crisp nuclear features, equal to and even better than the conventional Papanicolaou stain, in a blood free background. There was an increase in total staining time by 40 seconds. We recommend the use of this modified UFP stain, only if similar reagents are being used in other laboratories. Otherwise situation specific modifications may be needed. If the UFP stain is to be used for tissues where the chances of cytoplasmic keratinization are negligible, then the use of Orange G component of the stain may become redundant.
Subject(s)
Biopsy, Needle , Breast/pathology , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast/pathology , Female , Hematoxylin , Humans , Staining and Labeling/methods , Time Factors , Vaginal SmearsABSTRACT
The use of colposcopy for follow up of patients with abnormal cervical smears has considerably increased the rate of detection of cervical malignancies and intraepithelial lesions in recent years. In case the lesion is situated high up in the cervical canal however, the chances of missing out the lesion are considerable. In our case the malignancy was detected only on endocervical sampling, but was missed on scrape as well as on colposcopically directed biopsy. The patient who was in perimenopausal age group, had complaints of post coital bleeding. The initial cervical scrape smear showed only squamous metaplasia. Colposcopically directed biopsy also showed the same findings. On a high index of suspicion clinically, the endocervical sampling was done with a cytobrush, which showed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the cervix. Subsequent hysterectomy of the patient confirmed the diagnosis. Simultaneous endocervical sampling considerably increases the chances of finding an intracanalar lesion, particularly in older women, in whom the transitional zone (TZ) is situated high up in the cervical canal. In such a situation, even a colposcopically directed biopsy may prove inadequate. This was amply proved in our case.
Subject(s)
Biopsy , Colposcopy , Diagnosis, Differential , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Neoplasms, Squamous Cell/pathology , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/pathologyABSTRACT
This study aims at evaluating the specificity and sensitivity of ELISA test in detection of Mycobacterial Antibodies using A60 antigen. Sera from 100 clinically suspected cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis were studied along with 10 sputum positive cases 25 age and sex matched healthy control. Overall positivity of the test was 80.00 per cent with 100 percent sensitivity and 92 per cent specificity. The present study recommends ELISA as an adjunct to other investigative procedures.