Sialadenosis of the parotid gland: report of four cases diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration cytology.

Four patients presented with a history of recurrent bilateral swellings of parotid glands. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens showed highly cellular smears containing clusters of enlarged acini and numerous naked nuclei. A diagnosis consistent with sialadenosis was made considering the distinct morphologic appearance: micrometric measurements in all cases, in addition to histology and electron microscopy in two cases confirmed this hypothesis. A review of clinical histories revealed hormonal, nutritional and neurogenic disorders, which are known to be associated with sialadenosis. In the work-up of salivary gland swellings, it is important to recognize cytologically this underestimated entity, which does not necessarily require surgical treatment.

Ultrastructure of the absorptive cell glycocalyx in hyperplastic colonic polyps after staining with alcian blue and high iron diamine.

The glycocalyx of absorptive cells in large intestinal hyperplastic polyp was characterized histochemically at the electron microscope level by the use of the Alcian Blue pH 2.5 and high iron diamine techniques with the aim of comparing their ability in preserving the fine reticular network of the structure. Both the reagents stained glycocalyx, indicating the presence of sulphated acidic glycoconjugates. However, they showed different degrees of condensation of the reactive sites. Alcian Blue preserved its filamentous appearance better.

Immature Paneth cells in intestinal metaplasia of gastric mucosa.

Various histochemical techniques were performed on paraffin sections of gastric mucosa with intestinal metaplasia to distinguish mature from immature Paneth cells (PC) and to correlate their relative incidence with the degree of differentiation of metaplastic epithelium. The results show a higher incidence of immature PC in the poorly differentiated type of intestinal metaplasia than in the well-differentiated type. The identification of immature PC may be proposed as a further criterion in the evaluation of gastric dysplasia.