Diagnostic utility of immunocytochemistry by using liquid-based cytology (LBC) slides.

INTRODUCTION: Cytological specimens, such as fine needle aspirations (FNAs) and exfoliative cytology samples, are minimally invasive options for diagnostic purposes. Liquid-based cytology (LBC), originally designed for cervical cytology, has gained prominence as an alternative technique for non-gynecological cytology. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) is an ancillary method used when diagnosis becomes challenging due to morphological overlap or the need for cellular origin clarification. This study aims to assess the diagnostic utility of ICC when applied to LBC slides and evaluate its effectiveness in relation to the waiting (lag) time of residual material. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 74 cases in which ICC was applied to LBC slides were studied over one year in a reference pathology laboratory (Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu, Pathology Laboratory, City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey). Cases in which immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cell blocks were excluded. The SurePath PAP method was used for the main LBC cytology slides. For the ICC study, 1-4 PAP-stained LBC slides were obtained from each case's residual material and stained with a primary antibody. RESULTS: The positive immunostaining was obtained in 81% of cases. The samples were categorized into groups based on the waiting time of residual LBC material for ICC analysis: 1-5 days, 6-10 days, 11-20 days, and 21-38 days. Comparative analysis revealed a decline in ICC efficacy as the waiting (lag) time increased. Additionally, a statistically significant difference was observed between the 11-20 days and 21-38 days groups (P < 0.05). An analysis of 142 LBC slides stained by ICC revealed that nuclear markers exhibited higher positivity compared to non-nuclear markers, although no significant difference was detected between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: High positivity rates can be obtained in ICC studies performed on additional slides obtained from residual LBC material within the first 20 days. ICC applied to LBC slides is an important and useful alternative for diagnostic and prognostic markers in cases without a cell block or with a cell block without sufficient number of cells.

Chronic Gastritis Mimicking Malignancy on 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT.

ABSTRACT: We present 2 patients mimicking malignancy with intense gastric 68 Ga-FAPI-04 uptake on PET/CT. Both patients showed low to moderate 18 F-FDG uptake. Histopathology revealed chronic active gastritis. Chronic gastritis may resemble gastric malignancies by showing false-positive 68 Ga-FAPI-04 uptake.

Role of 68 Ga-FAPI PET/CT in Screening Malignancy of Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.

ABSTRACT: A 57-year-old man with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and newly diagnosed colonic adenocarcinoma was referred to 18 F-FDG PET/CT for staging and 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT for ongoing trial. 18 F-FDG PET/CT showed equal intense 18 F-FDG uptake in the tumor and multiple hypermetabolic polypoid lesions in the entire colorectum. 68 Ga-FAPI-04 PET/CT showed intense 68 Ga-FAPI-04 uptake only at the colonic tumor, without uptake at polypoid lesions.

18F-FDG PET/CT in Hyalinized Cholecystitis.

ABSTRACT: Hyalinizing cholecystitis is a rare type of chronic cholecystitis. Moderate patchy transmural especially perivascular lymphoplasmacytic inflammatory cell infiltration is observed in the gallbladder wall. We present the 18F-FDG PET/CT and MRI findings of this rare subtype of chronic cholecystitis. Hyalinizing cholecystitis should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of gallbladder wall thickening with intense 18F-FDG uptake.

The potential prognostic role of peritumoral eosinophils within whole tumor-associated inflammatory cells and stromal histological characteristics in colorectal cancer.

We aimed to determine the prognostic role of whole tumor-associated inflammatory cells, especially eosinophils, and stromal histological characteristics in relation to other prognostic parameters in patients with colorectal carcinoma (CRC). A total of 122 patients who underwent an operation for CRC were included in this retrospective study. Conventional (tumor grade, TNM stage and venous invasion [VI]) and other histopathological (intratumoral/peritumoral budding [ITB/PTB], desmoplasia) tumor parameters were recorded and classified by density, as were the tumor-associated inflammatory parameters (intratumoral/peritumoral lymphocytes [ITL/PTL], eosinophils [IE/PTE], overall inflammation [ITI/PTI], Crohn-like inflammation [CLI]). Cancer-specific survival data were analyzed with respect to all tumor parameters. High ITB and PTB were significantly correlated with a higher rate of pT4, VI and desmoplasia (p < 0.05). An association of moderate ITL and extensive PTL with lesser likelihood of VI and metastasis; an association of extensive CLI with a significantly lower rate of metastasis and TNM stage IV; and minimal PTE with a significantly higher rate of pT4 stage, metastasis and ITB were detected (p < 0.05 for each). Our findings revealed that low score tumoral budding and an increase in tumor-related inflammation were associated with lesser likelihood of poor prognostic tumor parameters. Nonetheless, given the association of an increase in PTE with lesser likelihood of ITB, pT4, metastasis, and with non-significantly for better survival rates, our findings emphasize the potential role of peritumoral eosinophils as an additional prognostic parameter in CRC.

Tubular gastric adenocarcinoma: machine learning-based CT texture analysis for predicting lymphovascular and perineural invasion.

PURPOSE: Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and perineural invasion (PNI) are associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancers. In this work, we aimed to investigate the potential role of computed tomography (CT) texture analysis in predicting LVI and PNI in patients with tubular gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) using a machine learning (ML) approach. METHODS: Sixty-eight patients who underwent total gastrectomy with curative (R0) resection and D2-lymphadenectomy were included in this retrospective study. Texture features were extracted from the portal venous phase CT images. Dimension reduction was first done with a reproducibility analysis by two radiologists. Then, a feature selection algorithm was used to further reduce the high-dimensionality of the radiomic data. Training and test splits were created with 100 random samplings. ML-based classifications were done using adaptive boosting, k-nearest neighbors, Naive Bayes, neural network, random forest, stochastic gradient descent, support vector machine, and decision tree. Predictive performance of the ML algorithms was mainly evaluated using the mean area under the curve (AUC) metric. RESULTS: Among 271 texture features, 150 features had excellent reproducibility, which were included in the further feature selection process. Dimension reduction steps yielded five texture features for LVI and five for PNI. Considering all eight ML algorithms, mean AUC and accuracy ranges for predicting LVI were 0.777-0.894 and 76%-81.5%, respectively. For predicting PNI, mean AUC and accuracy ranges were 0.482-0.754 and 54%-68.2%, respectively. The best performances for predicting LVI and PNI were achieved with the random forest and Naive Bayes algorithms, respectively. CONCLUSION: ML-based CT texture analysis has a potential for predicting LVI and PNI of the tubular GACs. Overall, the method was more successful in predicting LVI than PNI.

Computed tomography texture analysis in patients with gastric cancer: a quantitative imaging biomarker for preoperative evaluation before neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment.

PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to explore the role of computed tomography texture analysis (CT-TA) for predicting clinical T and N stages and tumor grade before neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment in gastric cancer (GC) patients during the preoperative period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT images of 114 patients with GC were included in this retrospective study. Following pre-processing steps, textural features were extracted using MaZda software in the portal venous phase. We evaluated and analyzed texture features of six principal categories for differentiating between T stages (T1,2 vs T3,4), N stages (N+ vs N-) and grades (low-intermediate vs. high). Classification was performed based on texture parameters with high model coefficients in linear discriminant analysis (LDA). RESULTS: Dimension-reduction steps yielded five textural features for T stage, three for N stage and two for tumor grade. The discriminatory capacities of T stage, N stage and tumor grade were 90.4%, 81.6% and 64.5%, respectively, when LDA algorithm was employed. CONCLUSION: CT-TA yields potentially useful imaging biomarkers for predicting the T and N stages of patients with GC and can be used for preoperative evaluation before neoadjuvant treatment planning.

Clinical characteristics of appendiceal diverticular disease.

BACKGROUND: Appendiceal diverticular disease (ADD) is a rare pathology which is associated with an increased mortality risk due to rapid perforation and high rates of neoplasm. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical and histopathological characteristics of ADD with differences from acute appendicitis (AA) diagnosis and to determine the association with neoformative processes. METHODS: The 4279 patients who underwent appendectomy were evaluated retrospectively. ADD patients histopathologically classified into four groups. Patients' demographic characteristics, imaging and preoperative laboratory findings, additionally postoperative histopathology results were compared between groups. RESULTS: The prevalence of ADD was 2.29% (n = 98). In addition, the male/female ratio was 2.37 in ADD patients who were found to be significantly older than those with AA patients. Type III was the most frequently (62.2%) identified sub-group of ADD. The incidence of neoplasms, plastrone, and Littre's hernia was found statistically higher in ADD group than AA group. Mucinous adenomas (10.2%) was the most common neoplasm while the carcinoid tumor (1%) and precancerous serrated adenomas (4.1%) were also reported. CONCLUSIONS: As a result, high neoplasm in ADD patients can be shown with incidence of perforation and plastron, and in order to avoid possible neoplasm or major complications, it is necessary to carry out new studies for the right diagnosis of ADD whether the diagnosis is done preoperatively or intraoperatively. We recommend surgical resection of the ADD, which may even be incidentally detected during any surgical procedure, due to its high risk of neoplasm and rapid perforation.

Acral angioosteoma cutis: A rare case.

Acral angioosteoma cutis is a rare and benign cutaneous lesion clinically characterized by an exophytic growth resembling pyogenic granuloma on the acral skin; first described in 2006. Its pathogenesis is still unclear while well-formed capillaries, pale stroma, bland fibroblast-like cells, and multiple tiny spicules of woven bone constitute the histological hallmarks. Here, we present a case of acral angioosteoma cutis in a 34-year-old man to increase awareness regarding this rare condition.

A Comparative Study of Activity-Based Costing vs. Current Pricing System for Pathology Examinations at Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital, Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To provide real cost data for pathology examinations by using activity-based costing method, in order to provide means to departments, health administrators and the social security institution to achieve improvements in financial planning, quality and cost control. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The cost of the histopathological examinations, which were accepted by the Department of Pathology at Okmeydani Training and Research Hospital during August 2014, was calculated using the activity-based costing method. The costs were compared with the amounts specified in the Healthcare Implementation Notification Tariff and the conventional volume-based costing. RESULTS: Most pathology examinations listed within a given band in the Healthcare Implementation Notification Tariff show variations in unit costs. The study found that the costs of 77.4% of the examinations were higher than the prices listed in the Healthcare Implementation Notification Tariff. CONCLUSION: The pathology examination tariffs specified in the Healthcare Implementation Notification do not reflect the real costs of the examinations. The costs that are calculated using the activity-based costing system may vary according to the service types and levels of health care institutions. However, the main parameters of the method used in the study reflect the necessity of a more accurate banding of pathology examinations. The banding specified by the Healthcare Implementation Notification Tariff needs to be revised to reflect the real costs in Turkey.

CD56, HBME-1 and cytokeratin 19 expressions in papillary thyroid carcinoma and nodular thyroid lesions.

BACKGROUND: Carcinomas of the thyroid follicular epithelium are the most common cancers of the endocrine system. In the diagnosis of thyroid nodules and tumors, the gold standard is histological evaluation. In cases which have morphological overlap, immunohistochemistry is needed for differential diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to investigate the expressions of CD56, HBME-1, cytokeratin 19 (CK19) antibodies in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and thyroid nodular lesions and their contributions to differential diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 47 PTCs (26 follicular variant, 21 classic type) and 26 benign thyroid lesions (15 nodular hyperplasia, 10 follicular adenomas, 1 Hurtle cell adenoma) were analyzed retrospectively. HBME-1, CK19, and CD56 antibodies were performed with immunohistochemical methods. The results were evaluated statistically. RESULTS: +3 staining with HBME-1 and CK19 was observed in 72.3% and 83% of patients with PTC. In 95.7% of PTC cases, loss of CD56 expressions in various degrees was identified. A statistically significant difference was detected in HBME-1, CK19, and CD56 expressions between PTCs and benign lesions (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In our study, positive staining of HBME-1, CK19, and loosing expression of CD56 that supports malignancy was found and concluded that CD56 is a helpful antibody for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions and may increase the diagnostic accuracy when used with HBME-1 and CK19.

Malignant Transformation of Grade II Ependymoma in a 2-Year-Old Child: Case Report.

Ependymomas are central nervous system neoplasms that account for a third of all posterior fossa tumors in children. The most common location for infratentorial ependymoma is within the fourth ventricle. We present a case report of malignant transformation of an infratentorial grade II ependymoma in a 2-year-old child who presented with vomiting and visual disturbance. An infratentorial brain tumor in the left cerebellar area was totally removed, and the initial pathologic diagnosis was grade II ependymoma. The tumor recurred aggressively 1 year later; subtotal removal and adjuvant chemotherapy were performed. After a second operation, a histopathologic study was performed. The second specimen was defined as a grade III anaplastic ependymoma. Transformation to grade III anaplastic ependymoma is possible for a grade II ependymoma but very rare. The diagnosis of the anaplastic variant of intracranial ependymomas is difficult. Surgical treatment remains the mainstay of the treatment for all cases. Ependymomas in young infants have a worse prognosis than older children, so we need individual clinical evaluation and close follow-up of such cases. This article highlights the requirement of a close follow-up for grade II ependymomas for anaplastic transformation.