ABSTRACT
Background: A perplexing diagnostic and therapeutic dilemma is often presented by masses involving glandular and nodal structures of head and neck - lymph nodes, thyroid gland and salivary glands. Fine needle aspiration of such masses is a rapid, direct and safe adjunctive surgical procedure for obtaining material for cytologic analysis. Objectives: To study the diagnostic efficacy of FNAC in the head and neck lesions and correlate it with histopathology. Material & Methods: It is a study of 289 cases of head and neck area referred to the Department of Pathology, Govt. Medical College Patiala. The cytological diagnosis was compared with histopathology. The false positive/negative data was analysed to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and overall diagnostic accuracy of the study. Results: The study included 289 cases between 1-70 years in which 59.86% were females and 40.13% were males. Maximum cases were in the age group of 21-30 years. Maximum numbers of cases were from lymph nodes, 139 (48.09%). The overall accuracy was 96.53% with sensitivity of 91.54% and specificity of 98.16%. Positive and negative predictive values were 94.20% and 97.27% respectively. Conclusion: FNAC is an excellent first line method for investigating the nature of palpable lesions in the head and neck region. It can obviate the need for surgery if the lesion is non-neoplastic.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of the present study was to examine myocardial antioxidant and oxidative stress changes in male and female rats in the presence of physiological sex hormone concentrations and after castration. Twenty-four 9-week-old Wistar rats were divided into four groups of 6 animals each: 1) sham-operated females, 2) castrated females, 3) sham-operated males, and 4) castrated males. When testosterone and estrogen levels were measured by radioimmunoassay, significant differences were observed between the castrated and control groups (both males and females), demonstrating the success of castration. Progesterone and catalase levels did not change in any group. Control male rats had higher levels of glutathione peroxidase (50 percent) and lower levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD, 14 percent) than females. Control females presented increased levels of SOD as compared to the other groups. After castration, SOD activity decreased by 29 percent in the female group and by 14 percent in the male group as compared to their respective controls. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) was assessed to evaluate oxidative damage to cardiac membranes by two different methods, i.e., TBARS and chemiluminescence. LPO was higher in male controls compared to female controls when evaluated by both methods, TBARS (360 percent) and chemiluminescence (46 percent). Castration induced a 200 percent increase in myocardial damage in females as determined by TBARS and a 20 percent increase as determined by chemiluminescence. In males, castration did not change LPO levels. These data suggest that estrogen may have an antioxidant role in heart muscle, while testosterone does not