Correlation of endoscopic brush cytology with biopsy in diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal neoplasms.

Neoplasms of upper gastrointestinal tract, especially malignancy, are one of the leading causes of death worldwide. The advent of endoscopy has greatly facilitated the detection and diagnosis of gastrointestinal lesions. Although it has been shown that the combined use of cytology and biopsy renders the highest probability of detecting malignancy, the merit of routine brush cytology has been questioned since it appears to duplicate biopsy. This study is undertaken to correlate the findings of brush cytology with tissue biopsy and the feasibility of the procedure as an adjunct in diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal tract neoplasms. Seventy-five patients with upper gastrointestinal tract symptoms were subjected to endoscopy in a period of two years. Brushing was done before the biopsy was taken from the suspected lesions and cytological findings were compared with that of biopsy. Of the 75 cases, brush cytology was positive for malignancy in 65 cases (86.66%) and biopsy was positive in 58 cases (77.33%); the sensitivity of the study was 98.03%. Thus, brush cytology is a useful adjunct to biopsy in the diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal tract malignancy. With the inclusion of a "suspicious" category in the reporting of the smears, malignancy can be detected early, and if possible, patient management can be altered.

Hemangiopericytoma of mesentery: a case report.

Mesenteric tumors are rare, most commonly encountered lesions are fibromatoses and leiomyoma. A case of hemangiopericytoma of mesentery in a 38 years old female is reported for its rarity. The classical histological findings and recticulin stain to demonstrate blood vessels & recticulin fibers, encircling individual tumor cells aids in the correct diagnosis.

Micronuclei in breast aspirates. Is scoring them helpful?

BACKGROUND: Micronuclei scoring can be used as a biomarker of genotoxic and chromosomal damage. AIMS: 1. To score the spontaneously occurring micronuclei in the baseline population (fibroadenomas) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma, 2. Compare micronuclei frequency in benign tumors and various grades of infiltrating ductal carcinomas. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study was done at a tertiary hospital where 40 cases of fibroadenoma and 40 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma were taken up. May Grunwald Giemsa stained smears were analyzed for micronuclei scoring. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Independent sample test (Student t test) was done to look for significant difference occurring between the controls among all grades of infiltrating ductal carcinoma. RESULTS: Mean micronuclei range in fibroadenoma was 1.8 ± 1.9. It was 12.1 ± 9.2, 27.4 ± 27.2 and 100 ± 36.5 in grade I, grade II and grade III carcinomas respectively. CONCLUSION: An increase in micronuclei values was seen from fibroadenoma to infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Micronuclei scoring can be used as a biomarker on fine needle aspiration cytology smears of breast carcinoma.