Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions in soft tissue tumors.

Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region (AgNOR) staining was employed on 51 apparently normal representative soft tissues, 53 benign soft tissues tumors and 52 malignant soft tissue tumors with an aim to study the sensitivity and specificity of method in differentiating between the benign and malignant soft tissue tumors. The mean AgNORs count in apparently normal fibrous tissue was 1.02, whereas it was 0.94 in adipose tissue, 1.14 in smooth muscle tissue, 1.115 in skeletal muscle tissue, 1.025 in blood vessels endothelial lining cells and 1.04 in nerve tissue. The mean AgNOR count was found to be higher in benign soft tissue tumors as compared to respective apparently normal soft tissue and was found to be statistically significant. The mean AgNOR count in soft tissue sarcomas was found to be higher as compared to both apparently normal soft tissue and benign soft tissue tumors. An increase AgNOR score in both benign and malignant soft tissue tumors as compared to apparently normal soft tissue indicates high proliferative activity. The neurofibrosarcoma showed low AgNOR count as compared to other soft tissues sarcomas. The fibrohistiocytic sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma and angiosarcoma showed a mean AgNOR score of 4 or more than four. The mean AgNOR score was found to increase with high grade of the tumor. The AgNOR staining is simple and useful method in estimating tumor cell proliferation thereby differentiating normal soft tissue from non-neoplastic proliferative growth, benign and malignant soft tissue tumors. It may help in differentiating fibromatosis from fibrosarcoma, dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans of low grade malignancy from high grade malignant fibrous histiocytoma and benign hemangiopericytoma from malignant hemangiopericytoma.

Direct immunofluorescent studies of skin biopsies in pemphigus.

Direct immunofluorescent studies of skin biopsies from 16 pemphigus vulgaris patients revealed immunoglobulin deposits in 12 (75%) cases with fluorescence at intercellular areas in epidermis. In 2 patients (12.5%) dermoepidermal junction also showed immunoglobulin deposits. IgG was the commonest type of immunoglobulin demonstrated in 12 out of 16 (75%) cases followed by IgM in 5 (31.25%) and IgA in 1 (6.25%) cases. Seven (43.75%) cases showed presence of IgG alone while IgM with IgG was found in 4 (25%) cases. One (6.25%) case showed deposition of IgG, IgM and IgA. The results indicated that demonstration of immunoglobulin in skin biopsies by direct immunofluorescent technique is quite a useful adjunct in diagnostic confirmation of pemphigus.

Evaluation of cryostat frozen section in the diagnosis of surgical biopsies.

Cryostat frozen section technique was used on 1300 surgical biopsies. On final paraffin sections diagnosis there were 270 benign neoplasms, 200 malignant neoplasms and 830 inflammatory and non-neoplastic lesions. The overall accuracy using frozen section was 98.48 per cent with one false positive result (0.07 per cent), 17 false negative results (1.3 per cent) and 2 deferred diagnosis (0.15 per cent).

Serum immunoglobulins in leukaemia and malignant lymphoma.

The serum immunoglobulin levels were studied in 25 healthy control subjects and 23 cases of leukaemia (6 cases of acute lymphatic leukaemia, 5 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia, 2 cases of chronic lymphatic leukaemia and 10 cases of chronic myeloid leukaemia) and 17 cases of malignant lymphoma (13 cases of Hodgkin's lymphoma and 4 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma). The mean levels of IgG, IgA and IgM in 25 control subjects were 1573.56 +/- 91.45 mg/dl, 209.64 +/- 12.55 mg/dl and 109.81 +/- 10.03 mg/dl respectively, those in 23 cases of leukaemia were 1338.23 +/- 109.74 mg/dl, 195.53 +/- 20.72 mg/dl and 127.47 +/- 13.29 mg/dl respectively and those in 17 cases of malignant lymphoma were 996.99 +/- 99.50 mg/dl, 147.47 +/- 19.61 mg/dl and 129.35 +/- 19.95 mg/dl respectively. The mean levels of IgG and IgA were found to be decreased in cases of leukaemia with elevated levels of IgM, however, it was found to be insignificant (p less than 0.4). The mean IgG, IgA and IgM levels were found to be almost identical in different leukaemia irrespective of cytological types except in 2 cases of chronic lymphatic leukaemia which showed low levels of IgG and IgA. The mean levels of IgG and IgA were found to be significantly decreased in malignant lymphoma (p less than 0.02). IgM levels were found to be increased in 3 cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

The role of imprint cytology in diagnosis of various bone and joint diseases.

Using imprint cytodiagnosis on 63 cases of bone and joint lesions, there was only one false negative result, with ten unsatisfactory smear preparations giving an overall accuracy of 82.25 per cent. Imprint cytodiagnosis is simple, cheap, rapid easy to perform and interpret because of its better cytomorphological evaluation. The accuracy rate is high when used in conjunction with various cytochemical stains.

Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis (XGC): a clinicopathological study of 21 cases.

Xanthogranulomatous Cholecystitis (XGC) is an uncommon inflammatory disease. In a retrospective analysis of 159 cholecystectomy specimens revealed 21 cases of diffuse and focal XGC with an overall incidence of 13.2 per cent. The age distribution was identical to those of traditional chronic cholecystitis with female predominance (M:F ratio 1:4). Gallstones were seen in 15 cases with marked thickening of the gall bladder on ultrasonography. In one case it falsely diagnosed as carcinoma on ultrasonographic examination, however, histopathologically it was turned out to be XGC. One case of XGC was associated with adenocarcinoma of gall bladder. The incidence of diffuse XGC was 5.66 per cent, whereas incidence of focal XGC was 7.54 per cent amongst chronic cholecystitis.

Glycosylated haemoglobin(HbA1C) and serum protein bound hexose in diabetes mellitus.

Glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C) and serum protein bound hexose (SPBH) levels were estimated in 35 healthy control subjects and 35 diabetic subjects. The mean levels of SPBH in control subjects was 161.69 +/- 3.84 mg/dl. The SPBH levels in diabetic subjects were found to be increased (P less than 0.001). It was not influenced by age and sex of the patients, complications, type of diabetes and treatment received. HbA1C levels in control subjects were 5.33 +/- 0.38/dl. The HbA1C levels in diabetic subjects was found to be markedly elevated (11.95 +/- 0.46/dl) and was found to be highly significant (P less than 0.001). The levels were found to be on higher side in juvenile diabetics. A progressive linear correlation was observed between fasting blood sugar levels and concentration of SPBH and glycosylated haemoglobin concentration. A significant correlation was also observed between the levels of glycosylated haemoglobin and SPBH levels (P less than 0.05).

Extrauterine mixed mesodermal tumour of ovary with heterologous element.

The ovary is very rare site of mixed mesodermal tumour. The present case occurred in postmenopausal woman aged 52 years, in right ovary with endometrioid carcinomatous component admixed with chondrosarcomatous component and squamous element. The patient was disease free at one year follow up, with no evidence of local recurrence and distant metastases and was treated post-operatively with combination therapy of radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The review of literature is discussed briefly, with its histogenesis and its differential diagnosis from immature teratoma, malignant teratoma, sertoli leydig cell tumour containing islands of cartilages and embryonal carcinoma of ovary.