Cytomorphometric analysis of squames obtained from normal mucosa, leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma.

INTRODUCTION: Exfoliative cytology is becoming increasingly important in the early diagnosis of oral cancers, as a procedure for obtaining cell samples, which can be analyzed by sophisticated diagnostic techniques. Quantitative techniques, based on the evaluation of parameters such as nucleus area, cytoplasm area and nucleus-to-cytoplasm area ratio, may increase the sensitivity of exfoliative cytology for early diagnosis of oral cancers, since these techniques are precise, objective and reproducible. OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to employ the cytomorphometric quantitative techniques to determine the value of exfoliative cytology and to assess this method to analyze the effectiveness in providing additional diagnostic test for the detection of early oral malignancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study consisted of three groups. The experimental group comprised of 20 subjects with oral leukoplakia and 20 subjects with oral squamous cell carcinoma of the buccal mucosa. The control group comprised of 10 apparently healthy subjects. They were subjected to clinical examination and cytosmear of the buccal mucosa. A standard wooden tongue spatula/metal spatula moistened with normal saline was used to obtain scrapings of buccal mucosa. The scrapings were spread on plain glass slides and immediately fixed in Biofix spray, followed by staining with the Papanicolaou technique. Then, the microscopic pictures were captured onto a computer and are cytomorphometrically analyzed using an image analyzer. Since this study involved multiple groups, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparing the parameters for multiple groups. Where significant difference was seen, the ANOVA test was followed by Mann-Whitney test, for pairwise comparison. RESULTS: The mean count of nuclear area and nuclear diameter showed an increase from Group I to Group II, Group I to Group III and Group II to Group III, which was statistically significant. The mean count of cell area and cell diameter showed a decrease from Group I to Group II, Group I to Group III and Group II to Group III, which was statistically significant. The mean count of nuclear/cytoplasm area ratio showed an increase from Group I to Group II, Group I to Group III and Group II to Group III, which was statistically significant. CONCLUSION: With the advancements in the field of quantitative exfoliative cytology, interest in oral cytology has once again emerged in the diagnosis of oral premalignancy and malignancy. Computer-aided analysis with the sophisticated software increases the speed and accuracy of cytological measurements, which are repeatable. These versatile systems facilitate quantitative oral cytological assessments, which may become a viable procedure for the early detection of oral premalignancy and malignancy.

Evaluation and comparison between smartphone and photomicrography based whole slide imaging.

CONTEXT: In recent years, a new concept has emerged at the forefront of slide-based diagnosis and telepathology. This is the concept of whole slide imaging. This has very recently also been tried with smartphones using complex software for photo analysis and stitching. This study is aimed to evaluate and compare the use of Jenoptik photomicrograph camera and smartphone camera-based whole slide imaging (WSI) for various microscopic preparations and slides. The study also uses a commonly available IOS smartphone device, a commonly available phone to microscope attachment, and the most commonly used Adobe Photoshop software for all stitching purposes. AIM: To evaluate and compare smartphone and photomicrography-based whole slide imaging. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology in Bapuji Dental College and Hospital, Davangere. The samples included in this study are 10 slides of routine hematoxylin and eosin stain slides and 10 ground section slides of teeth and bone samples. Continuous photographs of the entire slide were captured using an IOS device and a Jenoptik camera attached research microscope at 10× magnification. The photographs were stitched using Adobe Photoshop 2017 software to obtain a whole slide image. Then, two observers analyzed the whole slide image for a possible diagnosis and thus compared the efficiency of both the methods. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The statistical Chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) H test were done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 2010 Software. RESULTS: Percentage of measure of agreement was 79.5%, 83.7% and 86.3%, 89.1% for the whole slide images taken in the smartphone and photomicrograph and analyzed by Observer 1 and Observer 2, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, it can be seen that the WSI by research microscopes is better than that with a smartphone and a compound microscope but still both the methods are equally good and can be followed with accurate results.

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma: A case report.

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma (DA) is a rare variant of ameloblastoma, accounting for approximately 4 to 13% of ameloblastomas. It is uncommon, aggressive in nature, and there are high chances of misdiagnosis. Clinical and radiographical features are similar to fibro-osseous lesions of jaw. We reported a case of 35-year-old male patient of DA.

Gingival metastasis of adenocarcinoma with an unknown occult primary.

Metastatic dissemination to the oral cavity is extremely rare and constitutes about 1%-2.1% of all oral malignancies. The very first sign of the metastasis into the oral cavity indicates an occult malignancy in the distant site. It gives the evidence of widespread disease with an average survival rate of less than 7 months. Adenocarcinomas account for up to 60% of all metastatic neoplasms of unknown primary origin. Here, we report a case of metastatic adenocarcinoma of unknown primary origin in a 60-year-old male patient in the upper and lower gingiva without involvement of the underlying bone which is a very rare case reported in the literature till date.

Assessing oral candidal carriage with mixed salivary glucose levels as non-invasive diagnostic tool in type-2 diabetics of davangere, karnataka, India.

BACKGROUND: The health of oral tissues is known to be related to salivary flow and its composition which may be altered in diabetic patients. The purpose of this study is to correlate mixed salivary glucose levels and oral candidal carriage and to assess the prevalence of candidal carriage in diabetics and controls. METHODS: Thirty adults with type-2 diabetes and 30 without diabetes (control subjects), aged 30-60 yr, participated in the study. Unstimulated saliva was collected and investigated for glucose levels (using glucose oxidase method) and colony-forming units (CFU) of Candida, this was stained with two stains, periodic acid-schiff stain and Grocott Gomori stain. RESULTS: In the present study mixed salivary glucose concentration in diabetics was significantly higher (p<0.01) compared to the controls. Diabetics with intraoral candidal carriage had higher salivary glucose levels (mean = 12.76±5.85 mg/dl) compared to cases where Candida was not isolated. The diabetics without intraoral candidal carriage had lower salivary glucose levels (mean = 5.36±2.24 mg/dl). This relationship could be seen in controls (non-diabetics) also. Diabetics showed an oral candidal carriage rate of 80% which was significantly higher compared to nondiabetics who showed an oral candidal carriage rate of 40%. CONCLUSION: Mixed salivary glucose levels were significantly higher in diabetics. The possible high salivary glucose level could predispose to oral candidal infection. So saliva can be used as a quick, non-invasive tool to assess the oral candidal status and possible infection.