Toshitaka Matsuyama

Analysis of Nuclear Chromatin Distribution in Cervical Glandular Abnormalities

OBJECTIVEnTo measure the intensity of hematoxylin staining for the analysis of chromatin distribution and to define a clear set of standards.nnnSTUDY DESIGNnCervical smears obtained from 12 patients with glandular lesions, 5 with squamous lesions and 3 without cervical lesions were used for NIH image analysis (public domain NIH image program developed at the U.S. National Institute of Health, available through the Internet by anonymous ftp from zippy.nimh.nih.gov or on floppy disk from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia). In addition, the same cervical smears were restained with propidium iodide, and the DNA content in the nuclei was compared with that with hematoxylin staining.nnnRESULTSnChromatin distribution was categorized into 3 patterns. Pattern A was that for which the highest staining density was localized in the periphery of the nucleus, while in pattern C it was localized in the center of the nucleus. Pattern B was the intermediate type between patterns A and C. In patients with adenocarcinoma, pattern B was predominant; pattern C was also relatively frequent in this group. In atypical glandular cells observed in patients with squamous lesions, patterns A and B were predominant and pattern C rarely seen. Analysis of DNA content in the nucleus revealed that nuclei showing pattern B contained significantly higher quantities of DNA than those showing pattern A.nnnCONCLUSIONnNuclear chromatin distribution seems to correlate well with DNA content, and analysis of the chromatin distribution pattern is helpful for the diagnosis of cervical glandular neoplasia.

Cytologic Studies of Endometrial Adenocarcinoma

子宮体癌患者38例について, 治療前細胞診と病理組織診との関連性を検討した. 内膜スメアでは癌の分化度と異型細胞出現率との間に関連性はなく, 高分化型腺癌, 低分化型腺癌いずれにも高い出現率が認められたが, 頸管スメアでは低分化型腺癌ほど異型細胞出現率が高いという結果が得られた.癌の筋層浸潤度による異型細胞出現率の違いでは, 頸管スメア, 内膜スメアいずれにおいても筋層浸潤度と異型細胞出現率との問に関連性は認められなかった. しかし頸管浸潤のあるものでは, 高い異型細胞出現率が頸管スメアで得られた.体癌細胞診の特徴について, 細胞診の背景と正常内膜細胞の出現状態という点から検討を行った. 腫瘍性背景は頸管スメアよりも内膜スメアにおいて高い頻度でみられ, また頸管スメアでは腫瘍性背景を示しながら異型細胞が認められないものもあった. 閉経後体癌患者の頸管スメアでは, 比較的高頻度に正常内膜細胞が認められるものがあり, このなかには異型細胞が認められないものもあった.