Cartilaginous choristomas in tonsillectomy specimen: A prospective analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Cartilaginous Choristomas (CC) are rare benign lesion in the head and neck. In our study, we aimed to share the findings we have observed in CC cases in tonsillectomy specimens in daily practice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a prospective analysis done at Department of Pathology, Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Medicine between 2002 and 2018. All of the tonsillectomy materials fixed in 10% formaldehyde were followed up by sampling one side of the cross-sections if no macroscopically specific pathology was observed routinely. All the specimens were processed and embedded in paraffin. The paraffin sections are stained with hematoxylin and eosin and examined under microscope. RESULTS: Tonsils of 141 patients among 2355 tonsillectomy patients had CC in their specimens. A total of 155 (3.68%) CC were detected because they were seen in bilaterally in 14 patients. More than one CC was observed in 20 patients. Two of the CC was observed calcification and one have ossification. No salivary gland was observed adjecent to the choristomas in 29 patients. Significant fibrosis was more frequent in patients 15 years of age and older. CONCLUSION: The presence of hyaline cartilage in the tonsil is hamartomatous development. The CC observed in the tonsil is non fibrotic and not related to age. They can be unilateral, multifocal or bilateral in tonsil. None of the cases we have seen with the CC found a primary malignancy associated with tonsillitis. The incidence of ectopic cartilage in tonsillectomy specimen is %5.99.

A rare breast tumor: primary neuroendocrine carcinoma.

Breast cancer is the most frequently seen cancer in females but primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast, which was defined as a separate entity in the 2003 World Health Organisation tumour classification, is seen extremely rarely. This entity, which is still not well-defined and has not been well-researched, demonstrates a more aggressive course than invasive ductal carcinoma. As metastatic breast neuroendocrine tumours are more widespread and the treatment strategy is different, preoperative differential diagnosis is important. The basic diagnostic method is pathological examination. If a neuroendocrine pattern is determined in microscopy, then immunohistochemical study of neuroendocrine markers should be made. It is necessary to be vigilant in terms of synchronous tumours and metachronous tumours which may develop in the postoperative period as the incidence of synchronous and metachronous cancers in patients with neuroendocrine tumours is higher compared to the general population. The case presented here is of a 73-year old patient who presented with complaints of a breast lump, which was thought to be invasive breast cancer, and as a result of the operation with pathological and immunohistochemical examination, primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast was determined. With more advanced evaluations, no synchronous or metachronous tumours were determined.