Objective. This was a comparative study between FNAC and thyroid scan used to diagnose the solitary thyroid nodule and histopathology was used as gold standard to compare the results of both modalities. We hypothesized that Fine needle aspiration cytology and thyroid scan diagnose solitary thyroid nodule (STN) as accurately as histopathology. Materials and Methods. This study comprised of 50 patients with solitary thyroid nodules (STN) presented to OPD. After clinical examination these patients were referred to Centre for Nuclear Medicine, Mayo Hospital Lahore for thyroid function tests and thyroid scan (TS). These patients underwent FNAC in the department of Pathology and surgery in Mayo Hospital. The cases were operated and evaluated for histopathological changes. Results. On thyroid scan, 40 patients (80%) having cold nodule were labeled as suspicious 10 patients (20%) had hot nodule. On FNAC 23 patients (46%) had benign lesion, 22 patients (44%) had indeterminate lesion and 5 patients (10%) had malignant lesions. On histopathology, 45 patients (90%) were confirmed to have benign lesions and 5 patients (10%), malignant lesions. After comparison of results of thyroid scan and FNAC with histopathology, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of thyroid scan were 80%, 20%, 10%, 90% and 26%, respectively whereas those of FNAC were 80%, 97.7%, 80%, 97.7% and 96%, respectively. Conclusion. Fine needle aspiration was a significantly better predictor of malignancy than thyroid scan and resulted in a smaller proportion of excisions for benign nodules.

Chromatography is a widely used analytical tool for separating a mixture of compounds into individual component. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is one of the most important methods used for the separation, identification and quantification of a compounds present in a mixture. It meets many criteria of analysis but its main drawbacks are it is relatively time consuming to run a chromatogram and consumes high amount of solvent compared to other analytical methods. There is a need to develop a method which can overcome these drawbacks of HPLC. Ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) is the new approach which opens novel direction in the field of liquid chromatography. It works on similar principle but shows better performance than conventional HPLC. UPLC is a technique of liquid chromatography with improved runtime and sensitivity with less than 2 μm particle size. The UPLC separation process is carried out under very high pressure (up to100 MPa). Additionally, it reduces the cost of reagent with shorter run time as compared to conventional HPLC. This article updated until 2020, provides a general review on the principle, instrumentation and application of UPLC in different fields of science.

Background: The majority of intradural spinal tumors are extramedullary accounting for 40% of all spinal tumors with meningiomas and nerve sheath tumors being the most frequent. Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of MRI in the detection of intradural extramedullary spinal tumors taking histopathology as gold standard. Methodology: This study comprised of 140 patients with clinical suspicion of intradural extramedullary spinal tumor. MRI was performed. The cases were operated and histopathological results were recorded. The results of MRI and histopathology were compared taking histopathology as gold standard. Results: Out of 140 patients, 96 patients (68.6%) had an extramedullary tumor on MRI. After comparison of results of MRI with histopathology, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of MRI were 99%, 95.5%, 97.9%, 97.9% and 97.7% respectively. Conclusion: MRI is a highly accurate, non-invasive, safe and convenient imaging modality for the evaluation of intradural spinal tumors and is valuable for early detection, planning management and guiding surgical biopsies.

Background: Breast carcinoma is the most common malignancy in females associated with high mortality rate. Objective: The purpose of present study was to describe the histological grade and histopathological stage of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast among female patients and to determine the association of tumor size and histological grade withnodal metastasis. Methods: This is an analytical cross sectional study, conducted in the Department of Pathology Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore, Pakistan from September, 2019 till February, 2020. Female patients of all age groups who were diagnosedwith invasive ductal carcinoma and underwent modified radical mastectomy were included in the study. Tissue processed and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining was performed. All the sections were examined under the light microscope by myself and two other consultant pathologists independently. Histological grading of invasive ductal carcinoma was done by following Modified Scarff Bloom Richardson grading system and histopathological staging was done according to CAP protocols. Results: Total of 60 female patients diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma were included in the present study. Mean age of the patient calculated was 48.17± 13.12 years with age range from 26 to 90 years. Size of the tumor ranged from 1cm to 10cm. On microscopy, histological grade III was the most frequent grade (36, 60%). Out of total 60 cases n=43(71.6%) were diagnosed with regional lymph node metastasis and T2N1Mx( 17,38.3%) was the most frequent stage of the tumor. Statistically no significant association of tumor size and histological grade was observed with regional lymph node metastasis (p >0.05).