Intraoperative crush smear cytology of vertebral chondroblastoma: A diagnostic challenge.

Chondroblastoma is a rare, cartilage producing primary neoplasm of the bone. Although generally benign, chondroblastoma is placed in the "intermediate, rarely metastasizing" category in the 2013 World Health Organization classification of bone tumors. It typically involves the epiphysis of long tubular bones and is exceptionally located in the vertebral column. To the best of our knowledge, less than 35 cases of vertebral chondroblastoma have been reported in the literature. We report a case of chondroblastoma involving D6 -D7 vertebrae in a 17-year-old male patient, diagnosed on intraoperative crush cytology and later confirmed on histopathology. Intraoperative crush cytology is rarely been used for the diagnosis of bone lesions. Till date, this is the third case of vertebral chondroblastoma being diagnosed on cytology and first case being diagnosed on intraoperative crush smear cytology. Previous two cases were diagnosed on fine-needle aspiration cytology. Chondroblastoma possesses distinct and diagnostic cytological features, which allows correct diagnosis even in the rarer locations like vertebral column. Crush cytology can be helpful in the rapid intraoperative diagnosis of vertebral chondroblastoma leading to early proper management of the patient.

Study of placenta in sickle cell disorders.

Remarkable changes are seen on gross and microscopic examination of placenta of patients with sickle cell disorders, hence the present study was undertaken to find out the pathological changes seen in the placenta of sickle cell disorder patients, as compared to control and to study the effect of maternal sickling on the fetus. It includes total 73 cases, of which 10 were of control group and 63 were from patients with sickle cell disorders, which included 47 sickle cell trait (AS) and 16 sickle cell disease (SS) patients. In group II, 9 (14.28%) patients with SS pattern developed complications during pregnancy, in the form of vaso-occlusive and hemolytic crises. Pregnancy induced hypertension was seen in 4 (25%) out of 16 SS and 11 (23.40%) of the 47 AS patients. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was seen in 6 (37.5%) out of 16 SS and 8 (17.02%) out of 47 AS patients. Placentae in sickle cell disorders showed pathological changes in the form of infarction, calcification, sickled red blood cells and hemorrhage in intervillous spaces, increased syncytial knots, fibrinoid necrosis, stromal fibrosis, hyalinised villi and compensatory proliferation of trophoblastic cells.