Introduction Invasive fungal infections have always been a major cause of mortality and morbidity and are especially prevalent in the immunosuppressed groups of patients. Members of the Mucoracea family have an increasing incidence and prevalence. It has always been difficult to diagnose this condition due to various reasons. Materials and Methods This was an observational study carried out jointly by the Department of Microbiology and the Department of Pathology for a duration of one year. All patients who presented in various clinical departments with a high index of clinical suspicion for mucormycosis were included in this study. A total of 186 samples were received from suspected cases of mucormycosis and were all subjected to direct microscopy by potassium hydroxide (KOH), fungal culture, and histopathological examination. Results Mucormycosis was documented in 33 out of 186 cases on direct microscopy, whereas 21 were positive on fungal culture. Histopathological positivity was reduced with only 11 cases showing aseptate hyphae suggestive of mucormycosis. Conclusion As these organisms generally do not grow well on routine culture media and with the histopathological results also being not suggestive clearly of mucormycosis, direct microscopy thus becomes more important and essential in the rapid diagnosis of this deadly condition.

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Introduction Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the commonest hematological malignancy in the West but is relatively uncommon in India. The prognosis of CLL is determined by well-established prognostic markers. CD49d has been emerging as a promising prognostic marker in CLL. CD49d expression in CLL has been found to have an aggressive clinical course, shorter time to first treatment, and poorer prognosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the flow cytometric expression of CD49d in newly diagnosed CLL and to correlate its expression with clinico-hematological parameters. Materials and Methods Twenty-five consecutive patients of CLL, diagnosed on flow cytometry, were included in the study. Patients on treatment or those with relapse were excluded. The panel for flow cytometry included the routine markers used for CLL diagnosis along with CD49d. The expression of CD49d was correlated with clinico-hematological parameters in all patients. “R” software was used for the statistical analysis. Fisher's exact test and Wilcox test were used to assess the correlation of CD49d to categorical and continuous data, respectively. Results The mean age of the patients was 62.6 ± 12.5 years, and 80% were symptomatic at diagnosis. CD49d expression was found in 44% cases, with a higher proportion being male patients. CD49d and prolymphocyte percentage showed a statistically significant correlation (p = 0.0007). We found a statistically significant correlation between CD49d expression and lymphadenopathy and splenomegaly with p-values of 0.033 and 0.0472, respectively. CD49d positivity correlated significantly with a higher Rai stage (p = 0.0196) and intermediate and high-risk cases according to Binet staging (p = 0.033). Conclusion CD49d expression in the present study correlated with a higher prolymphocyte percentage, lymphadenopathy, splenomegaly, and higher Rai and Binet stages. CD49d expression on flow cytometry was reproducible and easy to interpret.

Aims and Objectives: Haematological malignancy may show varied presentation in different regions of world, however, Uttarakhand lacks any recent data about them. The present study was therefore conducted to study the pattern of haematological malignancies on bone marrow examination in institute of Uttarakhand. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, over a period of 3 years. It included patients of haematological malignancies diagnosed on bone marrow examination. Patient's age, sex, clinical history and bone marrow diagnosis were noted for every case. All the data were entered into the excel sheet and statistically analysed. Results: The study included total 256 cases of haematological malignancies with male:female ratio of 1.13:1 and mean age of 39.3 years. Chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm (CMPN) was the most common haematological malignancy (49%) with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) being its most common type (40%). All the haematological malignancies showed male preponderance except for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Mean age of CMPN was 45.81 years and of acute myeloid leukaemia was 36.92 years. Bone marrow aspirate (BMA) and trephine biopsy (BMT) together were able to diagnose 81.3% of cases of haematological malignancies. Conclusion: The study concludes that haematological malignancies present at lesser age with male preponderance in Uttarakhand. CML is the most common haematological malignancy followed by acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. BMA and BMT are complimentary to each other for diagnosis of haematological malignancies and should be used together to avoid missing of any case.

Introduction: Estimates of Within-Subject and between subject biological variation in South Asia are sorely lacking. Therefore, we attempted to estimate the short-term estimates of the same for Differential Counts (DC).Methods: The study was conducted on twenty eight healthy volunteers (15 males and 13 females). After morning collection of blood in K3-EDTA vials analysis was conducted in triplicate on the Sysmex XN-1000 analyzer for six consecutive days. The Within subject, between subject and analytical coefficient of variation of the DC was All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.