Frozen section of the gastrointestinal tract, appendix, and peritoneum

Context. - Intraoperative consultation is frequently requested by surgeons operating on the gastrointestinal tract, appendix, and peritoneum, in this setting, the pathologist\u27s diagnosis plays a central role in determining whether a resection is needed, and if so, how much to resect and whether it was adequate. There is no room for errors in the frozen section laboratory, because a small mistake can have serious consequences. To my knowledge, no recent books or publications in the literature have dealt with this important topic. Objective. - To review the intraoperative consultation of the gastrointestinal tract, appendix, and peritoneum. Data Sources. - The MEDLINE database was queried for keywords, including gastrointestinal, esophagus, stomach, esophageal, gastric, small intestine, and all other names of the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum, and appendix in combination with frozen section. All suitable articles were retrieved and reviewed. This literature search and my personal experience formed the basis of this review. Conclusions. - The role, value, and limitations of frozen section and gross consultation are different for different areas of the gastrointestinal tract, even for the same types of lesions. Close interaction with the surgeon and knowing what is intended from the frozen section, what will be done following a certain diagnosis, and what is the minimal information needed from the pathologist at the time of frozen section are essential for proper patient management

What is the role of cytokeratins in barrett/cardia differentiation?

The importance of distinguishing between Barrett metaplasia and intestinal metaplasia of the gastric cardia is now accepted, and the management of each entity is quite different. Patients with Barrett metaplasia are enrolled in surveillance programs, consisting of periodic endoscopy and biopsy, because of the known risk of developing adenocarcinorna of the esophagus. Patients with intestinal metaplasia of the gastric cardia, however, are not currently enrolled in such programs, because this condition carries a low risk of developing adenocarcinorna of the gastric cardia. The distinction between both conditions by morphologic examination of routine histologic sections of endoscopic biopsies is extremely difficult if at all possible. A group of investigators proposed the use of immunostains for cytokeratin (CK) 7 and CK20 to overcome such difficulty. They concluded that the Barrett CK7/CK20 pattern was a highly sensitive and specific marker for Barrett metaplasia. Their observations, however, were not confirmed by other investigators. However, because it may be associated with premalignant lesions elsewhere in the gastric mucosa, we propose that intestinal metaplasia of the gastric cardia may have the same clinical implication as Barrett metaplasia

Immunohistochemical detection of telomerase reverse transcriptase in colorectal adenocarcinoma and benign colonic mucosa

Telomerase activity (TA) is increased in human cancers and cell lines and is thought to contribute to their immortality. High TA has been found to correlate with aggressive tumor behavior. The aim of this study was to determine whether increased TA in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) correlates with survival. Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 82 CRC and 6 cases of benign colon with diverticulosis were immunohistochemically stained for telomerase reverse transcriptase (TRT) using the immunoperoxidase method. The percentage of positive nuclei was determined for each case. Survival analysis was performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. TRT immunoreactivity was always nuclear. In normal colonic mucosa, TRT immunoreactivity was detected in the bottom of crypts. However, in normal colon adjacent to CRC, telomerase immunoreactivity was detected throughout the length of the crypts, including the upper third, and frequently in the surface epithelium. Telomerase immunoreactivity in more than 25% of the cancer cell nuclei was associated with significantly poorer patient survival (P = 0.0081). We conclude that increased TA in CRC, as demonstrated by TRT immunostaining, is associated with poorer survival, and that TA is present in normal colonic mucosa and is increased in colonic mucosa near CRC. Additional studies with larger patient samples and multivariate analysis are needed to determine whether TRT expression is an independent prognostic factor in CRC. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved