The use of the papanicolaou stain to routine histological examination: teaching the basic microscopy of squamous cell carcinoma

Introduction: The understanding of microscopy classes is imperative to the student in human pathology. Objective: To prepare the student to observe and understand, through tinctorial recognition, the main histologic features of Papanicolaou-stained well-differentiated carcinomas. Methods: A selected case of a well-differentiated carcinoma of the tongue was used for a Papanicolaou stain. Results: The Papanicolaou-stained slides showed, basically, basal cells in a faint to a dark blue color. The stratum spinosum stained light pink to a faint blue-green and the keratin layer and the keratin pearls stained bright orange. The connective tissue stained light green. Conclusion: The use of Papanicolaou stain was found very convenient as the beginner in histopathology can perform a ready identification of the well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma aspects.

Observation of sperm-head vacuoles and sperm morphology under light microscope / 대한생식의학회지

OBJECTIVE: The presence of sperm-head vacuoles has been suspected to be deleterious to the outcomes of assisted reproductive technology (ART). It is difficult to accurately distinguish morphologically abnormal sperm with vacuoles under a light microscope. This study was performed to analyze the result of the observation of sperm-head vacuoles using Papanicolaou staining under a light microscope and whether the male partner's age affects these vacuoles. METHODS: Sperm morphology with vacuoles was evaluated using Papanicolaou staining and observed under a light microscope (400x) in 980 men. The normal morphology was divided into three categories (group A, 14% of normal morphology). The criteria for the sperm-head vacuoles were those given in the World Health Organization manual. For the analysis of the age factor, the participants were divided into the following groups: 26-30 years, 31-35 years, 36-40 years, 41-45 years, and 46-50 years. RESULTS: The percentage of sperm-head vacuoles increased with normal sperm morphology (group A vs. groups B, C) (p<0.05). In the case of the age factor, a statistically significant difference was not observed across any of the age groups. CONCLUSION: A majority of the sperm-head vacuoles showed a statistically significant difference among normal morphology groups. Therefore, we should consider the probability of the percentage of sperm-head vacuoles not increasing with age but with abnormal sperm morphology. A further study is required to clarify the effect of the sperm-head vacuoles on ART outcomes.

The Cytology for Leukemic Cells in Cerebrospinal Fluid; Comparison of Conventional Cytology with Liquid-Based Cytology

BACKGROUND: The cytological examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using conventional cytology with a cytocentrifuge (cytospin) is an important method for evaluating the involvement of leukemia in the CNS. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) is now a widely used cytological method not only for gynecological and non-gynecological specimens, but its application to CSF for the identification of leukemic cell has not yet been reported. In this study, we tried to compare conventional cytology with using a cytospin with LBC and Papanicolaou (Pap) staining. We also examined the modified LBC with Wright staining to assess whether this modified method can be useful for diagnosing Leukemia. METHODS: We studied 30 cases of CSF that were obtained from 16 patients, including 17 cases of acute myeloid leukemia, 12 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and 1 case of diffuse large B cell lymphoma. We applied conventional cytology with a cytocentrifuge (cytospin), LBC with Pap staining and modified LBC with Wright staining. RESULTS: The morphological features of the LBC with Pap staining showed difficulty for interpretation when compared with conventional cytology with a cytospin, and mainly because of cellular shrinkage. The modified LBC with Wright staining showed good morphological features. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that modified LBC with Wright staining may be useful for examining CSF.