Role of CT Chest and Cytology in Differentiating Tuberculosis from Presumed Sarcoidosis in Uveitis.

Purpose: To report the role of CT chest and cytology in suspected tubercular and sarcoid uveitis. Methods: This is a retrospective, interventional case series of 376 uveitis patients with suspected ocular tuberculosis (TB)/sarcoidosis seen between January 2010 and April 2015 at the Advanced Eye Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. All underwent CT chest, and had following inclusion criteria: (1) Presence of active granulomatous anterior/intermediate/posterior uveitis or panuveitis; (2) a documented tuberculin skin test/QuantiFERON-TB Gold test; (3) all other causes of infectious/non-infectious uveitis ruled out. A total of 206 patients had abnormal CT chest, of which 147 patients with minimum four months follow up were studied. Based on CT findings and amenability of involved lymph nodes, conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA)/endobronchial ultrasoundguided TBNA (EBUS-TBNA) or fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of peripheral nodes was performed by an interventional pulmonologist. All smears were subjected to cytopathological examination, and Ziehl-Neelsen staining for acid-fast bacilli (AFB). The detection of the underlying etiology (TB or sarcoidosis) was the main outcome measure. Results: CT chest demonstrated mediastinal/hilar lymph nodes in 123/147 (83.7%) patients. Twenty four (16.2%) patients with parenchymal involvement were diagnosed TB (n = 20) or sarcoidosis (n = 4). Sixty nine patients with subcentimetric lymph nodes that were not amenable to biopsy were diagnosed clinico-radiologically as TB (42) and sarcoidosis (27). Fifty-four patients underwent biopsy from various sites that diagnosed TB and sarcoidosis in 21 (38.2%) patients each. Five TBLB/EBUS TBNA smears and seven FNAC smears demonstrated AFB. Conclusions: In systemically asymptomatic individuals presenting with uveitis, CT chest helped to establish the diagnosis of TB/sarcoidosis in 71.43% cases (105 out of 147) using only the clinico-radiological criteria, while a confirmed diagnosis of TB/sarcoidosis was possible only in 42 cases (28.57%) by EBUS/TBNA guided cytological examination.

Risk of Malignancy and Risk of Neoplasia in the Bethesda Indeterminate Categories: Study on 4,532 Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspirations from a Single Institution in India.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the frequency of category 3 (atypia of undetermined significance [AUS]/follicular lesion of undetermined significance [FLUS]), category 4 (follicular neoplasm), and category 5 (suspicious for malignancy) of The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC), the risk of malignancy (ROM) and the risk of neoplasia (RON) in these categories. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective 6-year audit of 4,532 thyroid fine-needle aspirations (FNA) reported as per the TBSRTC from a single institution with cytohistological correlation in 335 cases. RESULTS: The frequency of categories 3, 4, and 5 was 2.5, 3.9, and 0.5%, respectively; the upper and lower bound estimates of ROM being 58.3, 23.6, 75% and 5.1, 5, and 12.5%, respectively. AUS/FLUS (n = 116) cases were subcategorized as AUS, AUS-HC (Hürthle cell), AUS-PTC (AUS-papillary thyroid carcinoma not excluded), FLUS, FLUS-FH (favor hyperplasia), FLUS-HC, and FLUS-PTC. The AUS/FLUS malignancy ratio was 1:3.8. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of FNA thyroid was 80.5, 85.9, 80.7, 85.7, and 82.4%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Implementation of TBSRTC aided in achieving internal quality control in reporting thyroid FNA cytology. The AUS/FLUS frequency was 2.5%, which is at the lower range of the recommended rate and was associated with a higher than recommended upper bound estimate, but a comparable lower bound estimate of ROM.

Pleural fluid cytology samples in cases of suspected lung cancer: An experience from a tertiary care centre.

OBJECTIVE: Pleural effusion is present in some patients with lung carcinoma. This study was undertaken to evaluate the role of pleural fluid cytology in suspected cases of lung carcinoma. METHODS: In this prospective study, 86 cases of suspected primary lung carcinoma associated with pleural effusion were included. Cytomorphology of conventional smears was combined with LBC smears and a cytomorphological diagnosis was offered. An immunopanel of CK7, CK5/6, p63, TTF1, calretinin, and CD56 was applied on cell blocks. Additional immunochemical markers were performed based on clinical details and cytomorphology, wherever indicated. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 56.8 years. The female to male ratio was 2.1:1. Lung nodule/mass could be detected in 70.9% cases by CECT chest. Cytomorphology was evaluated in all the 86 cases and IHC was used to refine the cytomorphological diagnosis. After IHC along with clinico-radiological details, 61/86 (71%) cases were confirmed as metastasis from lung primary, 5/86 (5.8%) were diagnosed as metastatic adenocarcinoma of extrapulmonary origin, and 6/86 (7%) were metastatic SCC. A diagnosis of adenosquamous carcinoma was suspected in five cases. Other cases included small cell carcinoma (n = 2), large cell carcinoma (n = 2), large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (n = 3), and mesothelioma (n = 1). One case remained "uncategorized" even after IHC. CONCLUSIONS: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) performed on the pleural fluid sample can accurately diagnose and subtype primary lung carcinoma even in cases where radiology failed to identify a definite lung lesion. IHC can further help in delineating primary site in tumors of extrapulmonary origin. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:195-201. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Clinical Characteristics of Primary Vitreoretinal Lymphoma in an Indian Population.

PURPOSE: Primary vitreoretinal lymphomas (PVRL) pose a major diagnostic challenge, especially in the countries with a high prevalence of infectious variety of uveitis. The present study aims to report the clinical characteristics and diagnostic difficulties in patients with PVRL in an Indian Population. METHODS: Retrospective chart reviews of 12 patients with a diagnosis of PVRL. RESULTS: The study included 6 men and 6 women, with a mean age of 55.66 ± 8.76 years. All had bilateral disease. The clinical signs included anterior uveitis (12 eyes; 50.0%); vitritis (18 eyes; 75%); vitreous clumps (16 eyes; 66.6%); subretinal deposits (11 eyes; 45.8%); retinal vasculitis (6 eyes; 25%); and optic disc swelling (2 eyes; 8.3%). The most commonly mistaken diagnosis was intraocular tuberculosis. The intraocular lesions responded to multiple intravitreal methotrexate injections. CONCLUSIONS: PVRL in India was likely to be mistaken for an infectious variety of uveitis. A high index of suspicion and thorough clinical examination is necessary to make the diagnosis.

Fine needle aspiration in retroperitoneal lesions.

The retroperitoneal space is a potential space extending from lumbar to the pelvic region, behind the peritoneum. It encloses many vital organs like adrenals, kidneys, ureters, pancreas, aorta and its branches, inferior vena cava and its tributaries and many lymph nodes along with loose connective tissue and fat. The literature regarding role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for diagnosis of retroperitoneal lesions as a whole, is exceedingly limited. The present study was conducted to elucidate the spectrum of retroperitoneal lesions and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology, presenting to a tertiary care referral centre. A total of 389 aspirates from retroperitoneal lesions were reviewed for clinical and radiological details. The smears were studied for the cytological diagnosis. Cytological-histological correlation was assessed and the causes for discordant diagnoses were determined. The patients' age ranged from 1 to 88 years. There were 234 (60.2%) males and 155 (39.8%) females. In 61 (15.7%) aspirations, the yield was inadequate for reporting and 328 were satisfactory. About 113 (29.0%) aspirates were from pancreatic masses alone, 97 (24.9%) from the retroperitoneal lymph nodes, 70 (17.9%) from the kidneys, 45 (11.5%) from the adrenals, 41 (10.5%) from the retroperitoneal soft tissues and 23 (5.9%) from retroperitoneal segments of the gut. There were 249 (64.0%) neoplastic lesions and 79 (20.3%) non-neoplastic lesions, the ratio being 3.1:1. Eight (2.0%) aspirates were reported as suspicious for malignancy, and 5 (1.2%) aspirates were reported as neoplastic but could not be categorized as benign or malignant. Of the neoplastic lesions, malignant neoplasms (n = 216; 87.1%) were much more common than the benign (n = 20; 8.0%), the ratio being 10.8:1. Of all the satisfactory aspirates, subsequent histopathology was available only in 33/327 (10%) cases. A positive correlation between cytological and histological diagnosis was observed in 27/33 (81.8%) cases. We believe FNAC is a useful method for an early, rapid, minimally invasive and reliable pre-operative diagnosis for retroperitoneal lesions and can often obviate the need for open surgical biopsy.

Nodular sclerosis classical Hodgkin lymphoma grade 2: A diagnostic challenge to the cytopathologists.

BACKGROUND: Grade 2 nodular sclerosis classical Hodgkin lymphoma (NSCHL) is less common than grade 1 lymphoma and has a worse overall prognosis. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no study of a large series of cases has been performed until now. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic efficacy of cytology for grade 2 NSCHL versus grade 1 NSCHL and study the morphological features of grade 2 NSCHL in fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). METHODS: Fifteen of 51 histopathology-proven cases of NSCHL (18 FNAC procedures) were grade 2, and 36 were grade 1. The efficacy of FNAC for detecting grade 1 and 2 NSCHL was assessed, and the frequency of misdiagnosis was compared. The clinical details and cytomorphological features of grade 2 NSCHL were studied in detail. RESULTS: Among the grade 1 NSCHL patients, 58.4% were diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) or had findings suggestive of HL, whereas 20% of the grade 2 patients were diagnosed HL or suggestive of HL. Two cases of grade 2 NSCHL were misdiagnosed as anaplastic large cell lymphoma, and 4 were misdiagnosed as malignant neoplasms. Grade 2 NSCHL cases showed clusters and sheets of mononuclear, multinucleated, and bizarre cells, with some cases showing a suppurative background. However, extensive searching showed occasional Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells in most of the cases, and lacunar cells were seen in 12 cases. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic efficacy of FNAC is much lower for grade 2 NSCHL versus grade 1 NSCHL. The search for an occasional RS cell and the identification of lacunar cells can provide a clue for the diagnosis. Cancer Cytopathol 2017;125:104-113. © 2016 American Cancer Society.

Spectrum of gallbladder malignancies on fine-needle aspiration cytology: 5 years retrospective single institutional study with emphasis on uncommon variants.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is the standard modality for diagnosis of gallbladder malignant neoplasms. Adenocarcinoma is the most common malignancy; however, other types may also be encountered. The aim of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of gallbladder malignancies diagnosed on FNAC in the last 5 years to document the cytomorphological spectrum and the variations thereof. METHODS: The records of the Department of Cytology, PGIMER were searched from July 2010 to June 2015 and all cases of gallbladder malignancies were analyzed in detail for cytomorphological characteristics. Giemsa and Hematoxylin-Eosin stained slides were evaluated with immunocytochemistry on cell blocks wherever available. RESULTS: A total of 791 gallbladder FNAC performed in cases of radiologically suspected gallbladder malignancies were evaluated. Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) was more common in females with a male to female ratio of 1:2.3. Median age was 53.4 years (range 24-85 years); 81 cases (10.2%) were nondiagnostic and 31 (3.9%) were suspicious of malignancy. A total of 645 FNACs were positive for malignancy, out of which there were 619 (96%) adenocarcinoma and 26 cases with unusual malignancies. These included adenosquamous carcinoma (8, 1.2%), squamous cell carcinoma (7, 1.1%), small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (9, 1.3%), and one case each of undifferentiated carcinoma and Non Hodgkin lymphoma respectively. The unusual malignancies were confirmed on cell block immunocytochemistry. CONCLUSION: Adenocarcinoma is most common type of gallbladder malignancy; however, other unusual types of carcinomas occur and in such cases, FNAC supplemented by cell block immunocytochemistry is required for an accurate diagnosis. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2017;45:36-42. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Prevalence of Human Papilloma Virus Infection in Young Primiparous Women During Postpartum Period: Study from a Tertiary Care Center in Northern India.

INTRODUCTION: Assessment of high-risk Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) prevalence is important for monitoring long-term decrease in cervical cancer after implementation of the prophylactic HPV vaccination. AIM: To determine the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection and cytological abnormalities in young primiparous women in the age group of 16-26years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 214 primiparous women aged 16-26years were recruited from a public tertiary health care center postpartum clinic between June 2013 and May 2014. Cytological analysis was performed by Pap smear test and patients underwent sampling with cervical brushes for HPV-DNA detection and typing by a PCR-based assay for HPV types 16, 18, 33 and 45. RESULTS: High-risk HPV was detected in 41 (19.2%) women. HPV 16 was found to be most prevalent with 17 (7.9%) samples testing positive, followed by HPV 18 in nine (4.2%), HPV 45 in six (2.8%) and HPV 31 in four (1.8%) women. Five women tested positive for more than one HPV types. There were no cases of intraepithelial lesions or cervical cancer. One patient who had Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASCUS) on cytology tested negative for all four HPV genotypes. CONCLUSION: This study provides a geographic baseline data of high-risk HPV prevalence in young Indian women before implementation of a vaccination program. The results are important for comparison with other global regions and monitoring the effect of HPV vaccination.

Secretory cell outgrowths, p53 signatures, and serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma in the fallopian tubes of patients with sporadic pelvic serous carcinoma.

CONTEXT: High-grade serous carcinomas of ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal origin are together referred as pelvic serous carcinoma. The fallopian tubes, ovarian surface epithelium, and the tuboperitoneal junctional epithelium are all implicated in pelvic serous carcinogenesis. AIMS: The aim of this study is to identify putative precursor lesions of serous carcinoma including secretory cell outgrowths (SCOUTs), serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC), and p53 signatures and assign its probable site of origin. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Prospective case-control study of consecutive specimen comprising 32 serous carcinomas and 31 controls (10 normal adnexa, 10 benign and 6 atypically proliferative surface epithelial tumors, and 5 other carcinomas). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sectioning and extensive examination of the fimbrial end (SEE-FIM) protocol along with immunohistochemistry for Bcl-2, p53, and Ki-67 was employed for evaluating invasive carcinoma and precursor lesions in cases versus controls. RESULTS: SCOUT, p53 signatures, and STIC were most frequent in the serous carcinomas. p53 signatures and STIC were always seen in the fimbrial end. STICs were exclusively present in serous carcinomas, more common in ipsilateral tubes of cases with dominant ovarian mass. Multifocal p53 signatures with STIC were seen in 7 (21.9%) cases. STIC was present with or without an invasive carcinoma in 25% and in 6.25% of cases of pelvic serous carcinomas, respectively. The junctional epithelia did not show any lesion in any group. CONCLUSIONS: SEE-FIM protocol is recommended for evaluation of sporadicpelvic (ovarian/tubal/peritoneal) serous carcinoma. Based on the presence of STIC or invasive carcinoma, nearly 60% of all pelvic serous carcinomas are of fallopian tubal origin.

The protective role of the -1306C>T functional polymorphism in matrix metalloproteinase-2 gene is associated with cervical cancer: implication of human papillomavirus infection.

Cervical cancer is the major reproductive health problem among women caused by persistent infection of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is an endopeptidase highly expressed in cervical cancer; however, the genetic link between aberrant expression of MMP-2 and cervical carcinogenesis is not known. The genotypic distribution, expression pattern of MMP-2 and HPV infection, was analyzed in a total of 300 fresh surgically resected cervical tissue biopsies. The MMP-2 C1306T (rs243865) promoter polymorphism dominant model (CC v/s CT + CT + TT) revealed that the CC genotype had a 4.33-fold significant increased risk for development of cervical cancer (OR = 4.33; 95 % CI = 2.36-4.02, p = 0.0001) compared to those with variant genotypes (-1306 CT + TT). The C allele was associated with 3-fold significant increased risk (OR = 2.95; 95 % CI = 1.90-4.60, p = 0.0002) compared to T allele. Interestingly, a significant correlation was found between high expression of MMP-2 protein and CC genotype in cancer patients (p = 0.001) compared to normal controls (p = 0.012). Further analysis showed that the risk of cancer was extremely pronounced in HPV positive patients (OR = 9.33; 95 % CI = 2.88-30.20, p = 0.0001) compared to HPV negative ones, implicating the possible interaction between -1306CC genotype and HPV infection in increasing the cancer risk (p = 0.0001). The leads from the present study suggest the protective role of gene variant -1306C>T at the promoter region of the MMP-2 against HPV-mediated cervical cancer. These findings substantiate the functional role of MMP-2 C1306T polymorphism in a significant downregulation of MMP-2 protein in women with variant genotype (CT/TT) compared to the normal wild CC genotype.

Cytodiagnosis of distant metastases from follicular thyroid carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Follicular carcinoma of the thyroid is second most common primary malignancy of the thyroid gland after papillary carcinoma and metastasis is uncommonly seen in these patients. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To describe the cytomorphologic features for the accurate diagnosis of distant metastases from follicular carcinoma of thyroid. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 10 aspirates reported as metastatic follicular carcinoma of thyroid were reviewed for the available clinical and radiological details. RESULTS: All the patients were females. Six of these patients presented with subcutaneous and soft tissue swellings, one presented with a lung mass, one with right breast swelling, one with lumbar vertebral lesion and one with left iliac bone involvement. The cytology smears revealed tumour cells predominantly arranged in a repetitive microfollicular pattern with some scattered individually and in sheets. The tumour cells were small, had mild nuclear pleomorphism, round nuclei, low nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio, fine chromatin, inconspicuous nucleoli, and scanty to moderate amount of cytoplasm with some showing marginal vacuoles with "fire-flare" appearance. Occasional microfollicles showed scanty eosinophilic colloid in the center. CONCLUSIONS: Identification and establishment of a correct clinical diagnosis of a distant metastasis from a follicular thyroid carcinoma is a challenging task. We believe that with prior knowledge of characteristic cytologic features, such metastases can be rapidly and accurately diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology.

Cervical embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma and ovarian Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor with congenital absence of unilateral ovary.

We report this first case of synchronous cervical rhabdomyosarcoma and Sertoli-Leydig cell tumor (SLCT) of ovary with congenital absence of unilateral ovary and fallopian tube in a 16-year-old female patient. A review of the English-language literature identified only six cases of double malignancies with cervical rhabdomyosarcoma and SLCT but none of the case was associated with congenital absence of ovary and fallopian tube. When such multiple conditions involving one system occur in an individual, the possibility of single etiology arises, but beside some hypothesis, no definite link could be established in any of the cases reported.

Characterization of Toll-like receptor transcriptome in squamous cell carcinoma of cervix: A case-control study.

OBJECTIVE: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a proven etiological agent for cervical cancer However, not all HPV infections result in cervical cancer. The mechanisms of host immune system to prevent/control HPV infection remain poorly understood. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a system of innate immune defense. HPV has been demonstrated to modulate TLR expression and interfere in TLR signaling pathways, leading to persistent viral infection and carcinogenesis. The aim was to study the relative gene expression of TLRs in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). METHODS: Gene expression profile of TLRs 1 to 9 was examined in 30 cervical SCCs and an equal number of normal cervical tissue samples using a PCR array platform. Gene expression studies for TLRs 3 and 7 were validated by western blotting. RESULTS: HPV was detected in all cases and in none of the controls (p<0.0001). HPV16 was the preponderant (83.3%) subtype. A significant downregulation in the relative gene expression of TLR3 (p<0.0001), TLR4 (p<0.0005) and TLR5 (p<0.0001) was observed in cases. A significant upregulation for TLR1 was observed (p=0.006). Although TLRs 2, 7, 8 and 9 were upregulated and TLR6 was downregulated, it was not significant. The western blot performed with antibodies against TLRs 3 and 7 confirmed the findings of the gene expression studies. CONCLUSIONS: A significant downregulation in the gene expression of TLRs 3, 4 and 5 and upregulation of TLR1 was observed in cervical SCC as compared to controls. Study results evoke the proposition for investigating TLRs 3, 4 and 5 agonists for therapeutic exploration.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in liquid-based cervical cytology samples.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing is replacing cervical cytology as a primary cervical cancer screening tool. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of occurrence of HPV types 16 and 18 in liquid-based cytology (LBC) cervical samples in our set-up. This study comprised of 302 LBC cervical samples. HPV 16 and HPV 18 were detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the results were compared between normal (n = 155), inflammatory (n = 99), squamous (n = 37) and glandular abnormalities (n = 11). Of our patient cohort, 73.8 % was ≤40 years old. We found HPV 16 DNA in 91/302 (30.1 %) cases and HPV 18 DNA in 21/302 (6.95 %). HPV types 16 and 18 were detected in 25.8 and 4.5 % cytologically normal samples, respectively. HPV 16 was positive in 29.3 % of inflammatory samples. Squamous cervical abnormalities were more often HPV positive (HPV 16 in 48.6 %; HPV 18 in 29.7 %) than glandular abnormalities (36.4 and 18.2 %, respectively). We found high-risk HPV DNA in more than one third of the tested women. A good number of these HPV-positive cases were negative in cervical cytology.

Liquid-based cytology versus conventional cytology for evaluation of cervical Pap smears: experience from the first 1000 split samples.

CONTEXT AND AIM: Screening programs using conventional cytology conventional Pap smear (CPS) have successfully reduced cervical cancer, but newer tests like liquid-based cytology (LBC) and human papillomavirus testing might enhance screening. The main aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of LBC versus CPS using "split samples." MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective study comprising of 1000 consecutive cervical "split samples" over a period of 1 year. Split sample was obtained using cervex-brush. CPS was prepared from the brush and the brush head was suspended in the LBC vial and processed by SurePath™ LBC. RESULTS: There were 4.3% unsatisfactory (U/S) cases in CPS and 1.7% in LBC; the main cause is insufficient cells, and excess of blood in CPS. About 25/100 (2.5%) split samples had epithelial abnormalities both in CPS and LBC (1.2%-atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance; 0.4%-low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; 0.2%-high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; 0.5%-squamous cell carcinoma; 0.1%-atypical glandular cells favouring neoplasia; 0.2%-adenocarcinoma). Inflammatory organisms were almost equally identified in both techniques but were better seen in LBC samples. CONCLUSIONS: LBC technique leads to significant reduction of U/S rate. LBC samples offered better clarity, uniform spread of smears, less time for screening and better handling of hemorrhagic and inflammatory samples. LBC had equivalent sensitivity and specificity to CPS.

Artificial neural network in diagnosis of urothelial cell carcinoma in urine cytology.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To build up an artificial neural network (ANN) model in the diagnosis of urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) in urine cytology smears. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We randomly selected a total of 115 urine cytology samples, out of which 59 were histopathology proven UCC cases and remaining 56 were benign cases from routine cytology samples. All the carcinoma cases were proven on histopathology. Image morphometric analysis was performed on Papanicolaou's stained smears to study nuclear area, diameter, perimeter, standard deviation of nuclear area, and integrated gray density. Detailed cytological features were also studied in each case by two independent observers and were semi-quantitatively graded. The back propagation ANN model was designed as 17-11-3 with the help of heuristic search. The cases were randomly partitioned as training, validation, and testing sets by the program. There were 79 cases for training set, 18 cases for validation set and 18 cases for test set. RESULT: In the training set, ANN was able to diagnose all the malignant and benign cases. In the test set, all the benign and malignant cases were diagnosed correctly. However, one of the low grade cases was diagnosed as high grade UCC by ANN model. CONCLUSIONS: We successfully built an ANN model in urine from the visual and morphometric data to identify the benign and malignant cases. In addition, the system can also identify the low grade and high grade UCC cases.

Spectrum of fungal and parasitic infections on fine needle aspiration cytology.

BACKGROUND: The incidence many fungal and parasitic lesions are on the rise over the decades. In this study, we have analyzed the spectrum of fungal and parasitic lesions diagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in a tertiary health care center. METHODS: This is a retrospective study conducted in the period three years and included all cases of fungal and parasitic lesions in the body (superficial and deep) identified on FNAC. RESULTS: There were total of 125 cases comprising of 59 parasitic cases and 66 fungal infections over this period. The various organisms were confirmed by special stains whenever required. In the parasitic group a cysticercosis (43), hydatid (8), filariasis (5), toxoplasmosis (1), leishmaniasis (1), and amoebiasis (1) were identified. The fungal infections included aspergillosis (36), mucormycosis (6), histoplasmosis (3), cryptococcus (4), and candidiasis (2). About a total of 15 cases were broadly classified as fungal infection only. CONCLUSIONS: FNAC is an easy, reliable, and minimally invasive method to diagnose and categorize the various fungal and parasitic lesions in the body for early and definitive treatment.

Role of fine needle aspiration cytology of spleen.

To evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of spleen in a tertiary care referral centre. FNAC of spleen was done in a total of 130 cases under ultrasonological guidance over a period of 5 years in a tertiary care centre. There were 76 male and 54 female including nine paediatric patients and the age range of the patients was from 2 to 70 years. All patients were evaluated for HIV, Hepatitis B antigen and coagulation profile before the procedure. Of 130 FNAC cases, 26 were inadequate, while 16 were normal splenic aspirate. A definite diagnostic opinion was possible in 88 cases. In this study, there were 13 cases of tuberculosis, 25 cases of granulomatous inflammation, 10 cases of acute suppurative inflammation, and one case each of leishmaniasis, aspergillosis and extramedullary hematopoiesis. In the neoplastic group, we had 26 cases of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, one case of Hodgkin lymphoma and 10 cases of metastatic malignancies. No complications were encountered during FNAC in any of the cases. With proper patient evaluation and emergency backup, USG guided fine needle aspiration cytology of spleen is a safe, easy and rapid procedure for definite diagnosis of neoplastic and non-neoplastic splenic pathology.

Female adnexal tumor of probable Wolffian origin.

Female adnexal tumor of probable Wolffian origin (FATWO) is a rare neoplasm arising from the remnants of the mesonephric duct. We report here a case of FATWO in a 70-year-old woman arising from the broad ligament and confirmed on immunohistochemistry. Most of these tumors behave in a benign fashion but certain histological features like hypercellularity, cellular pleomorphism and nuclear atypia as seen in the index case may increase the rate of recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, close follow-up is recommended for FATWO.