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INTRODUCTION: Cytological evaluation of body fluids is an important diagnostic technique. Cytocentrifuge has contributed immensely to improve the diagnostic yield of the body fluids. Cytocentrifuge requires a filter card for absorbing the cell free fluid. This is the only consumable which needs to be purchased from the manufacturer at a significant cost. AIM: To compare the cell density in cytocentrifuge preparations made from commercially available filter cards with custom made filter cards. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective analytical study undertaken in department of pathology of a tertiary care centre. A 300 GSM handmade paper with the absorbability similar to the conventional card was obtained and fashioned to suit the filter card slot of the cytospin. Thirty seven body fluids were centrifuged using both conventional and custom made filter card. The cell density was measured as number of cells per 10 high power fields. The median cell density was compared using Mann-Whitney U test. The agreement between the values was analysed using Bland Altman analysis. RESULTS: The median cell count per 10 High power field (HPF) with conventional card was 386 and that with custom made card was 408. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.66). There was no significant difference in the cell density and alteration in the morphology between the cell preparations using both the cards. CONCLUSION: Custom made filter card can be used for cytospin cell preparations of body fluids without loss of cell density or alteration in the cell morphology and at a very low cost.

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INTRODUCTION: In view of rising trend of the incidence of colorectal carcinoma in the Indian population due to adoption of western lifestyles and behaviours, we investigated the expression of the new emerging stem cell biomarker, CD66c in colorectal carcinoma of Indian origin. AIM: To study the expression of CD66c in human colorectal carcinoma and to correlate level of marker expression with tumour staging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This hospital based prospective study was conducted on 26 colorectal carcinoma patients in the age group of 20 years to 70 years. Surgically resected tumour specimens along with adjacent normal tissue were collected taking necessary precautions, paraffin embedded sections were prepared and used for histological and immunohistochemical analysis of CD66c. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Descriptive statistical measures like mean, standard deviation, percentage was applied. Other inferential statistical tests like Chi-square, Fisher's-exact test and one-way ANOVA was applied to find out the association of CD66c with different stages. The difference were interpreted as statistically significant when p <0.05. RESULTS: CD66c showed differential expression with membrane positivity in normal colorectal epithelial cells and cytoplasmic expression in tumour cells. There was significant correlation between CD66c expression and tumour site (p=0.02) with colon carcinoma showing positive expression compared to the rectal carcinoma. There was no significant correlation between CD66c staining and tumour stage (p=0.947). No significant relationship was observed between CD66c expression and other clinicopathologic variables studied such as sex (p=0.552), age (p=0.713) and tumour grade (p=0.263). CONCLUSION: CD66c can be specifically used for colon carcinoma and may be a novel marker in colon carcinoma stem cell isolation. The quantification of CD66c can be further verified by flow cytometry and RT-PCR. Further studies can be carried out using CD66c alone or in combination with other markers to develop cancer stem cell directed therapy.

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INTRODUCTION: Cannonballs are structures consisting of neutrophils adherent to epithelial cells, often seen in vaginal Pap smears of patients with trichomoniasis and chlamydiasis. We frequently observed these cannonballs in inflammatory Pap smears showing evidence of bacterial vaginosis. OBJECTIVE: To study the association between cannonballs and bacterial vaginosis with associated infections in inflammatory Pap smears. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective study performed over a period of 6 months between April 2014 and September 2014. Three hundred consecutive Pap smears assessed during the study period were retrieved from the archives and studied. RESULTS: A total of 280 smears were studied. Neutrophilic infiltrates were seen in 83.6%, cannonballs in 82.3%, and bacterial vaginosis in 70.7% of the smears. Cannonballs were found in 84.4% of the smears showing evidence of bacterial vaginosis with associated inflammatory infiltrates. There was a significant association between cannonballs and bacterial vaginosis (p = 0.0001). The odds ratio was 13.8 (95% CI: 7.2-26.2). CONCLUSION: The present study shows a significant association between cannonballs and bacterial vaginosis and associated vaginal infections.

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The incidence and mortality of cervical cancer remains high in India even after sixty years of introduction of the Pap smear (cervical cytology) which is an effective means of identifying preinvasive lesions of carcinoma cervix. The morbidity and mortality due to cervical cancer has come down drastically in countries with well established screening programmes at national level. This study aims at screening women for cervical cancer opportunistically during their visit to hospital and to study various types of neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions of the cervix by cervical smear study (Pap smear study). In the present study, a total of 350 cervical smears were studied. The age of patients ranged from 19 years to 80 years with mean age being 37.5 years. Out of 350 cases, the diagnosis of neoplasia was given in 43 cases and 258 cases were diagnosed as inflammatory smears. Forty-cases were normal and 9 cases were inadequate to evaluate. Forty-three patients who were found to have neoplastic lesions on cytology were referred for further investigations like colposcopy and biopsy to confirm the diagnosis and avail proper treatment. Limitation of the present study was small sample size as all female patients aged between 20 and 60 years visiting hospital were not included in the screening, other screening tests like VIA (visual inspection with acetic acid test) and HPV DNA (human papilloma virus) tests were not done. Until the time centrally organised screening programmes for cervical cancer are established in India, arrangements should be made for hospital based opportunistic screening for all women attending hospital. The cost effectiveness of different screening tests for cervical cancer should be evaluated.

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Neuromuscular and vascular hamartoma (NMVH) is a rare lesion arising chiefly in the small intestine. As it shares many of the histological features with other commonly occurring stricturous conditions of the small bowel, there is an ongoing debate whether it is truly hamartomatous or represents just a reactive condition. We are reporting a case of NMVH in the terminal ileum in a 32-year-old male who presented with symptoms of intestinal obstruction.