Stereologic estimation of mean nuclear volume in well-differentiated adenocarcinoma and carcinoma in situ of the gallbladder.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate mean nuclear volume of cells in well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (20 cases) and carcinoma in situ (20 cases) of the gallbladder by the principle of estimation of the volume of particles with arbitrary shapes.


METHODS
Hematoxylin and eosin-stained, 4-micron-thick, vertical sections from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were analyzed by using a projection microscope with a 100:1 oil immersion objective (NA 1.3); the final magnification was 2,500:1. The measurements were carried out in 10 microscopic fields for each slide. Mean nuclear volume was obtained by the stereologic method of point-sampled intercepts for vertical sections.


RESULTS
Mean nuclear volume in well-differentiated adenocarcinomas (127.67 +/- 46.95 micron 3) was significantly larger than in carcinoma in situ (69.17 +/- 15.74 micron 3) (P < .000001).


CONCLUSIONS
Stereologic estimation of mean nuclear volume may be helpful in the discrimination of malignant and borderline lesions of the gallbladder.
Elpek
G O
GO
Department of Pathology, Medical School, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey.
Gelen
T
T
Güleç
F
F
Sedele
M
M
Karpuzoğlu
T
T
Süleymanlar
I
I
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged