Background: It cannot be emphasized enough that a solid understanding of pathology is the foundation for a good clinical practice. And, Pathology, being a vast subject with the number of lecture hours being limited, understanding the students' perspective is essential for generating interest in the subject and for gaining essential knowledge and skills during those limited hours assigned. Aim: This study was aimed at understanding the students' perspective regarding pathology as a subject and about the effectiveness of the various teaching-learning methods currently used by the faculty of our department. Materials & Methods: This study was carried out on 81 2 nd MBBS students (regular batch) who have completed 3 semesters of pathology using a predesigned questionnaire with questions pertaining to students' perception of pathology and the various teaching learning methods currently used by the faculty. Results: A vast majority of the students, 96.6%, found pathology to be an interesting subject. About 95% of them agreed that a sound knowledge of pathology was useful during their clinical postings and for their clinical practice. Majority of the students, 76.6%, were satisfied with content of the lectures taken. 93.3% of them felt that enough stress has been laid on important topics during the lecture classes and important points have been highlighted adequately. Popular modes of teaching learning were casebased discussions and group discussion (96.6%), Powerpoint presentations (88%), black board teaching (78.3%), integrated teaching (83.3%). 96.65% of the students agreed that written exams were a very effective assessment tool. Among the changes suggested by the students, the point most mentioned was that more practical exams and monthly tests need to be conducted because pathology was perceived as a vast subject. Lack of effective teacher-student communication was also mentioned in 6% of the feedback forms. Conclusion: Our study showed that most students had a positive attitude towards pathology as a subject as well as the various teaching learning methods employed by the faculty of our department. Most students felt case based discussions and integrated teaching to be among the most effective ways of gaining knowledge.

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Endometrial stromal tumors are rare uterine malignancies composed of cells resembling those of proliferative endometrial stroma. Because of their indistinct clinical and radiological features, these malignancies are very rarely diagnosed preoperatively. They are mostly often diagnosed as fibroid uteruspreoperatively and as a result managed conservatively many a time. Usually distinguishing these tumors from benign smooth muscle tumors of the uterus are not problematic by light microscopy, however, difficulties arise in distinction between highly cellular leiomyomas and endometrial stromal sarcomas with smooth muscle differentiation. Here we present four consecutive cases of low grade endometrial stromal sarcomaswith emphasis on their clinical, histopathological and immunohistochemical features. By this study, we have attempted to document the histologic features of LGESS with discussion of the differential diagnoses to contribute to this rare spectrum of uterine neoplasms.Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2015) Vol. 5, 774-777

Papillary carcinoma thyroid -A 11 year epidemiological study with histopathological correlation in a tertiary care centre in South Malabar Region in Kerala, India Keywords:Papillary carcinoma thyroid. Correspondence:Dr. Anupama Ponniah, MD Department of Pathology, MES Medical College, Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India. Email:anupamasanjaynair@gmail.com Background: Thyroid cancer is the commonest endocrine malignancy. Based on recent data, thyroid cancer is the ifth most common cancer in women. To our knowledge the present study is the irst of its kind, correlating epidemiological and histomorphological data so as to assess the major cause hypothesis for thyroid cancers, focusing more on papillary carcinoma and its variants, comparing it with each other and with other thyroid carcinomas and also correlating with gender, life style and religion. Materials and Methods:This study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, MES Medical College, Perinthalmanna, Kerala, India, from January 2004 to June 2015.Two thousand and ifty thyroidectomy cases were studied. RESULTS:Out of the total 2050 cases, thyroid cancers constituted 295 (14.39%); of which 10.1% (208 cases) were papillary carcinoma thyroid (PCT) and its variants; 165 cases were seen in females (79.33%) and the incidence in males were only 20.68% (43 cases).The commonest variant encountered was classical papillary carcinoma (113 cases, 54.32%). CONCLUSION:Our study of papillary thyroid carcinomas in South Malabar region, Kerala, India shows that there is a high incidence of thyroid carcinomas in our locality and this could be attributed to various factors like high intake of iodine along the coastal region, excessive salt iodization, increased consumption of processed food and ish, inluence of female sex hormones, increased incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis and exposure to radiation. Our study also showed an increased incidence of PCT in females and among men and women of Islamic faith.

Bizzare parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation, or Nora‘s lesion is a unique bone lesion that most often arises in the small bones of hands and feet.  It is characterised by proliferation of chondroid, bony and fibrous tissue, and is occasionally misdiagnosed as a malignant process.  Our case was a 31 yr old lady, who presented with a painless swelling near the 5th metacarpal bone of right hand.  X-ray showed well marginated mineralised mass arising from the cortical surface of the metacarpal bone.  Histopathological examination revealed bizarre parosteal osteochondromatous proliferation composed of varying amounts of cartilage, bone and spindle cells. Cartilage was hypercellular and chondrocytes were enlarged. Ossification was irregular and had a peculiar blue tinctorial quality.