Background: Granulomas are the commonest lesions that the pathologists come across in routine practice. Granulomatous inflammation is a distinctive pattern of chronic inflammation that is encountered in a number of infectious and non-infectious conditions. A definitive diagnosis made by demonstration of the etiological agent is essential, which will bear an impact on patient management and outcome.Methods: This is a retrospective study considering the cases of 2 years. The cases diagnosed as infectious granulomatous skin lesions by clinical presentation, histopathological study of skin biopsies of such patients attending our hospital since July 2010 to July 2012 were included in the study. Clinical history and relevant data were obtained from respective requisition forms of biopsies received. Results:The study includes 67 cases. A male predominance was noted with 47(70.14%) cases while females constituted 20(29.85%) cases. The study shows that 80% of cases are distributed between 21 to 50 yrs of age while the prevalence of infectious granulomatous dermatoses is highest in the age group of 21-30 yrs. Among the different types of infectious granulomatous dermatoses, leprosy contributed to the major etiology, followed by tuberculosis of skin, leishmaniasis and actinomycosis. Conclusion:Clinical data with the laboratory workup and special stains together are needed for the definitive diagnosis and management of patients with granulomatous lesions. Cooperation between clinician and pathologist is more important in the field of skin disease than in almost any other field if the patient is to derive the greatest benefit from the biopsy.

Background: The nuclear grading of breast carcinoma is well established on histopathology, but not in cytology. There is no single standardised grading system yet in cytology for predicting breast carcinoma prognosis in spite of various cytological grading systems. Aim:The study was performed with an aim of evaluating various cytological grading systems on needle aspirates of breast carcinoma and to determine the best possible cytological grading system that correlates with the Nottingham modification of Scarf Bloom Richardson(SBR) histologicalgrading. Materials & Methods:The study consisted of 30 cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma diagnosed on cytology for which the corresponding histopathology was available.These cases were graded cytologically by eight grading systems and histologically by SBR method.The various cytological grading systems were evaluated for concordance, association, and correlation with the histopathological grading to select best possible cytological grading system. The various grading systems were also evaluated for interobserver reproducibility Results: A positive correlation was noted between the various grading systems on cytology with SBR method on histopathology. A strong correlation (r =0.925), maximum percent agreement (93.3%), and a substantial kappa value of agreement (k = 0.885) was noted for Robinson's grading with the Nottingham modification of SBR grading system. It also showed betterinterobserver agreement (93.3%; k = 0.889). Conclusion:The various cytological grading systems evaluated in this study showed a positive correlation with SBR method. Among them, Robinson's grading showed best concordance, correlation with histological grade and hence, may be included in the routine cytology reports.

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Introduction: HER-2/neuplays a key role in the pathogenesis of gastric and oesophageal carcinomas and it's over expression has been documented in 6.8-34% of gastric carcinomas and 10-12.1% of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.Detecting the HER-2/neu status is a prerequisite for monoclonal antibody therapy.In this study, immunohistochemistry was used to detect HER-2/neu over-expression in gastric and oesophageal carcinomas. Objective: To associate HER-2/neu over-expression withage, sex, type and grade of gastric and esophageal carcinomas in upper gastrointestinal (UGI) endoscopic biopsies. Methods: HER-2/neu expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry on esophageal and gastric carcinomas ofUGI endoscopic biopsies received at our institution. Association between the expression of HER-2/neu andclinico-pathological parameters was statistically analysed. Results: The association was not statistically significant between age, sexand grade of the tumour with HER-2/neu overexpression. HER-2/ neu overexpression was seen in 14.2% of gastric adenocarcinomas, 20% of esophageal adenocarcinomas and 4% of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas. Predominantly, intestinal type (9.5%) of gastric carcinoma showed HER-2neu over-expression followed by diffuse type (2.3%) and mixed type (2.3%). Conclusion: In view of increasing trend of UGI tract malignancies and associated poor survival of advanced carcinomas, assessing HER-2/ neu over-expression in gastric and esophageal carcinomas is helpful to decide the utility of adjuvant targeted chemotherapy.