ABSTRACT
Contamination of a paraffin-embedded tissue block with another patient's tissue can lead to an incorrect diagnosis. We report the use of short tandem repeats for the analysis of DNA extracted from microdissected tissue from unstained slides prepared from a decalcified block from a 33-year-old woman who was previously diagnosed with a low-grade B-cell lymphoma. This diagnosis was based on a single fragment of tissue found among bone fragments taken during orthopedic surgery at a referring hospital. Our results confirm that the B-cell lymphoma tissue was not derived from our patient. Furthermore, we suggest that in cases for which the definitive identification of a tissue contaminant can resolve clinically, therapeutically, and prognostically significant questions, short tandem repeat analysis of DNA derived from microdissected surgical pathology samples should be considered to minimize errors and enhance the quality of care.
Subject(s)
Diagnostic Errors , Lymphoma, B-Cell/diagnosis , Paraffin Embedding , Adult , DNA, Neoplasm/analysis , Female , Humans , Lymphoma, B-Cell/pathology , Microdissection , Microsatellite Repeats/genetics , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Quality ControlABSTRACT
Choroid plexus papilloma is a benign central nervous system tumor that occasionally spreads along the subarachnoid space. The authors report the case of a 49-year-old man who presented with back pain 19 years after resection of a posterior fossa choroid plexus papilloma. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed multiple spinal lesions without any residual or recurrent intracranial tumor. All spinal lesions were resected and histologically diagnosed as atypical choroid plexus papilloma. The authors suggest that patients in whom choroid plexus papilloma is diagnosed should undergo total neuraxis imaging at the time of initial diagnosis as well as periodic follow-up examinations after resection to rule out drop metastases.
