Assessment and grading of pigmentation in chronic venous insufficiency.

INTRODUCTION: Chronic venous insufficiency causes skin pigmentation of the leg ranging from small patches of mild dyschromia to extensive areas of severe skin pigmentation. It is thought that the pigmentation is mainly due to haemosiderin or melanin deposition. Erythrodiapedesis which occurs as a result of venular hypertension causes erythrocytes to migrate across the microvascular network into the dermis. METHODS: We categorized the grading of pigmentation into four grades: +, few spots; ++, pigmentation over gaiter area; +++, pigmentation involving leg and ankle; ++++, heavily pigmented (dark). Skin biopsies were taken from the patient while undergoing surgery; two biopsies were taken from each patient, one from apparently normal skin and other from the site of pigmentation. A total of 45 patients diagnosed as chronic venous insufficiency with pigmentation were included in the study and five patients included in control. The biopsy specimens were sent to pathology department for H&E, Perls stain and IHC for S100. RESULTS: Majority of cases, i.e. 62% of limbs fall under (++) grade of pigmentation, followed by (+) grade of pigmentation in 20%, while (+++) and (++++) constitute 9% of the cases each. Increased melanin deposition was seen in 40 pigmented skin biopsies and 3 normal skin biopsies from the case group, and normal melanin deposition was seen in all the non-varicose controls. CONCLUSION: We have tried to categorize pigmentation in chronic venous insufficiency into four grades. As the grade of pigmentation increases the per cent of cases with ulceration is increasing. It was observed that presence of melanin deposition irrespective of the grade of pigmentation was distributed more towards the advanced clinical classification (C5 and C6).

AgNOR count and subjective AgNOR pattern assessment (SAPA) score in carcinoma of the pancreatic head including periampullary tumors.

CONTEXT: Only a few studies are available in the literature regarding the AgNOR (argyrophilic nucleolar organizer region) count in pancreatic adenocarcinoma but studies on the SAPA (subjective AgNOR pattern assessment) score are completely lacking. OBJECTIVE: We attempted to estimate the AgNOR count and the SAPA score in carcinoma of the pancreatic head including periampullary tumors and to correlate them with other various clinico-histological parameters. SETTING: Patients undergoing pancreatic resection at the University Hospital, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. PATIENTS: Twenty-four cases of carcinoma of the pancreatic head including periampullary tumors. In addition, on the resected specimen of the pancreas, the area which was normal was chosen and, in that normal tissue, the AgNOR was also studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients were studied for the AgNOR count and the SAPA score, and the values were correlated with the size of the tumor, the type of tumor and histological type and grade of tumor. RESULTS: The values of the AgNOR count and the SAPA score were significantly higher in cases of pancreatic cancer than in the healthy pancreas. The AgNOR count was 1.6+/-0.1 in the healthy pancreas while it was 2.8+/-0.5 in cases of pancreatic carcinoma (P<0.001). The SAPA score was 5.6+/-0.2 in the healthy pancreas while it was 8.0+/-1.4 in pancreatic carcinoma (P<0.001). Tumors less than or equal to 2 cm in size had an AgNOR count of 2.6+/-0.08 while the AgNOR count was 3.4+/-0.02 in tumors larger than 2 cm (P<0.001). The SAPA score was also higher in tumors greater than 2 cm in size (7.3+/-0.2 vs. 9.4+/-0.8; P<0.001). Periampullary tumors had a significantly lower (P<0.001) AgNOR count (2.7+/-0.06) and SAPA score (7.8+/-0.2) as compared to carcinoma of the head of the pancreas (AgNOR count 3.3+/-0.03 and SAPA score 9.2+/-0.7). Well-differentiated carcinomas had significantly lower AgNOR counts as compared to other tumors except acinar cell carcinomas since acinar cell carcinomas are also well-differentiated tumors. The SAPA score was also higher in moderately-differentiated tumors and the difference between moderately-differentiated tumor and other types of tumors was significant although there was no significant difference between cystadenocarcinomas and unclassified tumors, and between acinar cell carcinomas and well-differentiated tumors on SAPA scoring. CONCLUSIONS: The values of the AgNOR count and the SAPA score are well-correlated with the size of the tumor, the type of tumor and the histological grade.