Background:Pancytopenia is a relatively common hematological entity. It is a striking feature of many serious and life-threatening illnesses, ranging from simple drug-induced bone marrow hypoplasia, megaloblastic anemia to fatal bone marrow aplasias and leukemias. The severity of pancytopenia and the underlying pathology determine the management and prognosis. Thus, identification of the correct cause will help in implementing appropriate therapy.Objectives:To study the clinical presentations in pancytopenia due to various causes; and to evaluate hematological parameters, including bone marrow aspiration.Materials and Methods:It was a prospective study, and 104 pancytopenic patients were evaluated clinically, along with hematological parameters and bone marrow aspiration in Hematology Unit, Department of Pathology, JJMMC, Davanagere, during the period of September 2005 to September 2007.Results:Among 104 cases studied, age of patients ranged from 2 to 80 years with a mean age of 41 years, and male predominance. Most of the patients presented with generalized weakness and fever. The commonest physical finding was pallor, followed by splenomegaly and hepatomegaly. Dimorphic anemia was the predominant blood picture. Bone marrow aspiration was conclusive in all cases. The commonest marrow finding was hypercellularity with megaloblastic erythropoiesis. The commonest cause for pancytopenia was megaloblastic anemia (74.04%), followed by aplastic anemia (18.26%).Conclusion:Thepresent study concludes that detailed primary hematological investigations along with bone marrow aspiration in cytopenic patients are helpful for understanding disease process and to diagnose or to rule out the causes of cytopenia. These are also helpful in planning further investigations and management.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is the second most common thyroid lesion next to goiter diagnosed on fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). It is also an important cause for hypothyroidism. FNAC plays a significant role in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions due to its simplicity and low cost. It can accurately diagnose Hashimoto's thyroidits in most patients. However, a small percentage of cases may be missed due to the inherent limitations of this procedure and the varied cytomorphology of this lesion. Therefore thorough cytological evaluation and an integrated approach are necessary to pick up correct diagnosis and to avoid unnecessary surgery. We present a 56-year-old female with solitary thyroid nodule diagnosed as Hurthle cell neoplasm on FNAC, but subsequent histopathological diagnosis following resection revealed Hashimoto's thyroiditis with marked Hurthle cell change.

Background:The micronuclei (MNi) test on exfoliated cells has been successfully used to screen population groups at risk for cancers of oral cavity, urinary bladder, cervix and esophagus. Their frequency appears to increase in carcinogen-exposed tissues long before any clinical symptoms are evident. There are only limited numbers of studies on MN scoring in cervical pre-neoplastic and neoplastic conditions.Aims:To compare the micronucleus (MN) score in the whole spectrum of cervical lesions including normal, inflammatory, abnormal squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US), abnormal squamous cells cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and invasive cancer (IC) and to evaluate the role of MN as a biomarker in different pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions.Materials and Methods:A total of 221 slides, comprised of normal (32), inflammatory (32), ASC-US (31), ASC-H (31), LSIL (32), HSIL (31) and IC (32), were studied. All the cases were reviewed by two pathologists independently. Histopathological correlation was done in a few cases of ASC-US, ASC-H, HSIL and IC which were available in the department. Two observers separately and independently counted the number of micronucleated cells per 1,000 epithelial cells in oil immersion magnification and were expressed as MN score per 1,000 cells.Results:The mean MN scores ± SD in normal, inflammatory, ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, HSIL and IC cases of cervical lesions were 0.84±0.68, 1.06±0.84, 3±0.73, 4.78±1.43, 4.06±1.13, 8.03±1.64 and 10.5±2.01, respectively. MN scores of IC and HSIL were significantly high compared to normal (P<0.000), inflammatory (P<0.000), ASC-US (P<0.000), ASC-H (P<0.000) and LSIL (P<0.000) group (analysis of variance test). LSIL showed significant difference with the normal (P<0.000), inflammatory (P=0.001), ASC-US (P=0.028), HSIL (P<0.000) and IC (<0.000), but not with the ASC-H (P=0.64) group.Conclusions:MN scoring on the epithelial cells of cervix could be used as a biomarker in cancer screening. This is an easy, simple, reliable, reproducible and objective test which can be performed on routinely stained pap smears.

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