Expression of ?-smooth muscle actin in benign and malignant salivary gland tumors: An immunohistochemical study

Background and Objectives: Myoepithelial cells (ME) are known to contribute in the patterning of salivary gland neoplasms (SGN) and possess cytoplasmic smooth muscle actin (SMA) revealed by alpha SMA (?-SMA). The present study aimed to assess the expression of ?-SMA in selected benign and malignant SGN (pleomorphic adenoma printarticle.asp?issn=0377-4929;year=2018;volume=61;issue=4;spage=479;epage=484;aulast=Ravi, mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), and polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma (PLGA). Materials and Methods: The intensity and pattern of expression of ?-SMA were studied in 25 cases of SGN's ACC (n = 7), MEC (n = 8), PA (n = 8), and PLGA (n = 2), and correlated with the histological patterns. Results: Maximum expression of ?-SMA in the epithelial compartment was seen in ACC, followed by PA, whereas MEC and PLGA showed completely negative staining. The connective tissue expression was mild in ACC and MEC. The myxoid stroma of PA with “melting” pattern was weakly positive for ?-SMA. The stroma in PLGA showed complete negativity. In ACC, ?-SMA-positive cells were lining the cribriform spaces, small islands, and dispersed within large islands. Small nests showed complete positivity for ?-SMA. Interpretation and Conclusion: In ACC, ?-SMA expression supports the involvement of ME in epithelial organization explaining the histological patterns seen. In PA, the expression correlates with the predominantly secretory nature of ME. The absence of epithelial positivity in MEC and PLGA suggest that ME has less role to play in their histogenesis. The weak stromal positivity observed in MEC and ACC may be attributed to the positive immunoreactivity of myofibroblasts playing a role in modulating the course of SGN's.

Prediction of lymph node metastases by preoperative nuclear morphometry in oral squamous cell carcinoma: A comparative image analysis study.

Context: Prediction of metastases of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) using incisional biopsy. Aims: To assess the efficacy of nuclear morphometry in predicting the nodal metastases of OSCC and to compare manual and computer-based image analyses. Materials and Methods: Sixteen cases of moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (8 with metastasized lymph nodes and 8 node-negative cases) were examined using manual and computer-based image analyses. Nuclear area, perimeter, circular rate, larger to shorter axis ratio, and coefficient of variance of nuclear area (NACV) were calculated from 100 nuclei of the processed incisional biopsy specimen. Statistical Analysis: The parameters were compared between the node positive and negative cases using Student's t test and with the level of lymph node involved using ANOVA test and Bonferroni's post hoc assessment. Manual and computer-based image analyses were compared by Spearman's correlation. Results: A significant variation between the node positive and negative groups was observed with respect to circular rate (P = 0.031) and NACV (P = 0.036). The nuclear area (P = 0.009), perimeter (P = 0.0001), circularity (P = 0.045), and larger to shorter diameter ratio (LS ratio) (P =0.02) were significantly different in the levels of the nodes involved. There was good a correlation between manual and computer-based analyses (Spearman's rho, 0.616-0.824) in nuclear size parameters and the circular rate had a negative correlation (-0.118, P = 0.664). Nuclear circularity was better assessed by computer-based analysis. Conclusion: Preoperative morphometric assessment of the nuclear features may detect early cellular changes and thus, are useful in predicting nodal metastases in OSCC.

Sturge Weber syndrome.

A variant of hemangioma and an uncommon congenital condition, the Sturge Weber syndrome (SWS), also called encephalo trigeminal angiomatosis, is a neurocutaneous disorder with angiomas involving the skin of the face (cutaneous angioma) and pia arachnoid (leptomeningeal angioma). It occurs typically in the ophthalmic and maxillary distributions of the trigeminal nerve (1,2). Here we present a case of a 14 year old girl.