The common histopathological findings of colon biopsies in Northern Saudi Arabia

Background: Colorectal cancer is considered as the most prevalent cancer among men and the third mostfrequent cancer among women in Saudi Arabia. Consequently, we aimed to assess the commonhistopathological findings of colon biopsies in Northern Saudi Arabia. Methodology: This study hasinvestigated the histopathological diagnosis of 88 patients subjected for colon and small intestine biopsies, theirages ranging from 18 to 99 years with a mean age of 48 years old at the Department of Pathology at KingKhalid Hospital, Hail, Northern Saudi Arabia. Results: Out of the 88 patients, 53(60.2%) were males and35(39.8%) were females. Diagnoses were reached in 77/88(87.5%) of the patients and could not be ascertainedin 11/88(12.5%). Adenocarcinoma was diagnosed in 10/77(13%) of the patients (9/10(90%) in colon-site and1/9(10%) in the small intestine. Conclusion: Colorectal precancerous and cancerous lesions are relativelyprevalent among patients referred to colorectal diagnostic biopsy. There is a substantial percentage ofinflammatory bowel cases among those referred to colorectal biopsies in Saudi Arabia.

Immunophenotyping of HPV types 16 and 18 among Sudanese patients with oral lesions

The aim of this study was to screen patients with oral lesions for the presence of Human Papilloma Virus [HPV] types 16 and 18. Sixty patients aged between 11-80 years with a mean age of 46 years were examined using immunohistological techniques. All samples were retrieved from RICK during the period from August 2009 to August 2010. Out of 60 patients, 50 had Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas [OSCCs] and the remaining ten had benign oral lesions, included as internal control. Of the 50 patients with OSCCs, 10 [20%] showed positive immunohistochemical results for HPV types 16 and 18 of which 50% were detected among males and 50% were demonstrated among females. The ten positive findings were Immunophenotyped as follows: five were positive with HPV type 16, four with type 18 and one was positive for HPV types 16 and18. All patients with benign oral lesions were negative for HPV immunohistochemistry. The study suggests the role of HPV 16 and 18 in the etiology of oral cancers in different parts of Sudan. However, the use of molecular techniques such as PCR are needed to confirm the results of immunohistochemistry in the role of the HPV in developing of OSCC in Sudan

consequence of delayed fixation on subsequent preservation of urine cells

Degenerative changes caused by delays in urine preservation contribute to false-negative and false-positive interpretation of urothelial disease in cytology. The aim of this study is to assess whether the delay of fixation of urine samples makes any significant difference to urine cytology and morphology, and the limit of acceptability of delay for routine use in the hospital laboratory. Three cell collection fluids were evaluated by analyzing the preservation and degeneration of cells in urine samples. In this study, 50 voided urine specimens were taken at random from females complaining of vaginal discharge. Each specimen was divided into three sterile containers. The first was immediately centrifugated and the deposit was smeared onto a cleaned micro slide and immediately fixed into 95% ethyl alcohol for 15 minutes. The remaining two were prepared in the same manner, however, the second after two hours of collection and the third after four hours of collection. The degree of degeneration and thus the preservation were assessed by a table of chosen criteria, then ranked and analyzed using Friedman's nonparametric test, at p=0.05. The results showed a significant difference between the preservation and the delay in urine fixation, p<0.0001. Any delay in fixation of urine specimen for cytology affects the preservation of cells, which may result in miss diagnosis. It is recommended that urine samples for cytology should be fixed immediately after collection