Iranian Journal of Pathology

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APL) is a medical emergency with potentially fatal complications. APL primarily results from a chromosomal translocation (t(15;17)(q22;q21)), leading to the formation of the PML-RARA fusion gene with three possible isoforms. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of Iranian APL patients, the distribution of PML-RARA isoforms, and survival analysis. METHODS: We included 145 consecutive eligible patients in this study...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Unnecessary pre-operative ordering of red blood cells (RBCs) in elective surgeries increases costs and waste of blood inventory. Maximum surgical blood order schedule (MSBOS) is a helpful strategy in the estimation of blood units needed for surgery and the prevention of overconsumption. In this study, an MSBOS for pediatric cardiac surgeries is designed. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we included all pediatric patients who underwent elective cardiac surgery in Children's Medical Center in Tehran, Iran, from March 21, 2019, to September 22, 2019...

Conjunctival melanoma is an uncommon tumor that is likely to recur and carries an overall mortality rate of approximately 30%. Melanoma arises from melanocytes, most often in sun-exposed skin. Less commonly, melanoma originates from other tissues such as the uvea, rectum, mouth, respiratory tract, and conjunctiva. Conjunctival melanoma represents only 1.6% of all noncutaneous melanoma. Herein, we reported a case of conjunctival melanoma followed by reviewing the literature to provide an optimal diagnostic approach...

Tumors of the ovarian epithelial type of testis are an infrequent entity. We report a case of borderline serous tumor in an 18-year-old male who presented with a right testicular mass, clinically suspicious of carcinoma. After right inguinal exploration, two pedunculated para-testicular masses were identified in the appendix of the right testis and epididymis. The histological features were as complex papillary structures lined by columnar cells with mild to moderate pleomorphism. Microscopically, features of borderline serous testicular tumors are identical to the morphology of the same tumors encountered in the ovarian counterparts...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Staphylococcus aureus causes various hospital- and community-acquired infections. This study aimed to investigate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of erythromycin and inducible clindamycin resistance, virulence gene profiles, and spa types of S. aureus isolates collected from patients in Ardabil Province, Iran. METHODS: A total of 118 clinical S. aureus isolates, including 50 (42.4%) methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 68 (57...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The most frequent type of cancer found in the endocrine system is thyroid carcinoma. Among well-differentiated thyroid malignancies, the most commonly occurring type is identified as papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), which makes up 70-90% of the cases. A subtype of PTC is papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC), which includes tumors smaller than 10 mm in diameter. Due to the advancements in diagnostic techniques, the incidence of this type of cancer is on the rise...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archived tissues are useful for the genetic analyses and assessment of some patients' disease history, including infectious diseases. However, there is no established protocol for extracting bacterial DNA from the archived specimens. In this study DNA was extracted from the archived H. pylori -positive gastric biopsies by some modifications applied to the previously published protocols. The quality of the extracted DNA was assessed by amplifying H...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Acinetobacter baumannii strains harboring Meallobetalactamases (MBL) pose a significant threat in the context of nosocomial infections. The present investigation was undertaken with the objective of devising a Multiplex PCR methodology for the concurrent detection of MBL genes within A. baumannii strains prevalent in Tehran City, Iran. METHODS: Between October 2020 and February 2021, 100 strains of A. baumannii were procured from burn specimens of hospitalized patients at Motahhari Hospital in Tehran...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Antibiotic resistance, especially in the form of multidrug-resistant (MDR), is a big problem, especially in intensive care units (ICUs). This study aimed to evaluate antibiotic resistance and MDR patterns among patients hospitalized in the ICUs in one of the large referral centers in Iran. METHODS: The present study was conducted at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran (a great referral hospital), which admits critically ill patients requiring ICU services...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Human epidermal growth receptor-2 (HER2) gene amplification is an important predictive and prognostic factor in breast cancer treatment. However, the expression of HER2 determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) is considered as borderline in some cases, and confirmation of the HER2 status by either fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH) is necessary for correct treatment decision-making. Considering the high cost of FISH and CISH, we aimed to investigate whether clinicopathological findings of the tumor could predict the HER2 status...

Syringocystadenoma papilliferum is a rare benign adnexal tumor that originates from the apocrine and eccrine glands. It mainly manifests as a solitary lesion in the head and neck; however, rarely, it may involve the trunk and limbs, typically with a linear pattern. Here, we report an extremely rare case of congenital linear syringocystadenoma papilliferum on the left buttock near the anus in a 6-year-old girl. This lesion should be considered in the list of differential diagnosis of linear lesions in order to prevent complications with proper diagnosis, treatment or follow-up...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Formaldehyde is an irritating substance that is categorized as a definite carcinogen (Group A1), according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This study was conducted to determine the role of this substance in the frequency of micronuclei (MN) in the buccal mucosal cells due to long-term exposure of the pathology staff to formaldehyde. METHODS: In this case-control study, 32 pathology laboratory staff members were assigned to the case group, and 32 staff members who were not exposed to formaldehyde were assigned to the control group...

The capability of the urinary tract to undergo metaplastic changes such as squamous, intestinal, glandular, mucinous, or ciliated epithelium in renal pelvis has been previously reported, which hypothetically is due to the mechanical irritation of the transitional epithelium. However, transitional metaplasia is a rare presentation in the collecting ducts. The aim of this paper was to report this type of extremely rare metaplasia and to inform pathologists that they may encounter this kind of metaplasia. A 25-year-old man, a known case of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), referred to the Imam Reza Hospital; affiliated to the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, for bilateral nephrectomy...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: The Milan system of classification of the salivary gland lesions came up with an aim to establish a universal reporting protocol. The aim of this study was to classify the fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) cases of salivary gland according to the Milan system. METHODS: All the cases presenting with salivary gland lesion for FNAC were considered. The clinical data was recorded. Cytology findings were analyzed according to the Milan System...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is involved in inflammation and has a significant role in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) progression. Accordingly, IL-6 level may increase in CLL-affected patients compared to healthy individuals. The -174G>C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in IL-6 promoter region has been related to differences in IL-6 transcription. Therefore, we investigated the possible association of IL-6 polymorphism with CLL. METHODS: We examined the -174G>C SNP in IL-6 gene and studied its possible relationship with CLL in affected patients and in healthy controls using Amplification Refractory Mutation System- polymerase chain reaction genotyping method...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Invasive breast carcinoma (IBC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in India. The conventional visual method of evaluation of Tumor-Stroma Ratio (TSR) and Stromal Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (sTIL) appears to be subjective. The present study aims to evaluate the utility of the indigenously designed square grid method for the evaluation of tumor-stroma ratio and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in invasive breast carcinoma by assessing the inter-observer variability...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Viral infections are associated with the pathogenesis and progression of human malignancies. Several studies have suggested the role of viral infections in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the results are still conflicting, and the potential role of viruses in PTC tumorigenesis remains to be elucidated. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the presence of parvovirus B19, cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 (HSV-1/HSV-2), and human papillomavirus (HPV) types 16 and 18 in PTC...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Streptococcus pneumoniae , Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pyogenes are among the most important causes of infection in human. Inventing rapid methods to identify these species can help in providing appropriate and effective treatment options. Therefore, the current study aimed to develop a multiplex touch-down PCR method to identify rapidly the aforementioned species patients' sputum samples, simultaneously. METHODS: A total of 50 sputum samples of patients with respiratory infections resistant to treatment were collected...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Brain tumors are the most frequent solid tumors in children. High-grade tumors are more challenging in diagnosis. Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT) may be mistaken for other high-grade brain tumors. Molecular genetic analysis of ATRT has shown deletion and mutation in the hSNF5/INI1 gene in most of the cases. The INI1 protein expression can be helpful for the accurate diagnosis. METHODS: In this study, immunohistochemical staining (IHC) using INI1 antibody was performed to determine the possibility of ATRT misdiagnosis...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Some of the patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are categorized as good prognosis based on the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R). However, these patients may have poor clinical outcomes. It seems that the current diagnostic tools and IPSS-R cannot consider genetic factors for determining the prognosis of MDS patients. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included all adult MDS patients of both genders who were admitted from March 2015 to March 2020 to the Hematology wards of two educational tertiary hospitals in Iran (Namazi and Faghihi, affiliated with Shiraz University of medical sciences)...