title: A rapid lactate dehydrogenase histochemical method for the intraoperative assessment of Hirschsprung's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to assess the ability of a fast lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) staining technique to evaluate the boundary of the abnormal bowel segment in Hirschsprung's disease (HD) as a guide for surgical resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy children diagnosed with HD were equally divided into two groups. For the study group, fast LDH staining was used to confirm the diagnosis and determine the boundary of abnormal bowel. Frozen H&E staining was applied to the control group. Postoperatively, bowel samples were examined by paraffin H&E staining to confirm the intraoperative diagnosis. Patients received a follow-up analysis, and bowel function was scored and compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the study group, 19 children were diagnosed with isolated HD, and the remaining had HD in combination with HD-allied disorders (HAD). The diagnosis was identical to the post-operative H&E staining, and the ganglia cells at the proximal end of the resected bowel were normal. In the control group, 30 children were diagnosed with isolated HD. However, the paraffin H&E staining showed that only 16 cases had isolated HD, and the remaining had a combined diagnosis of HAD. Moreover, 12 of these allied disorders were found at the proximal end of the resected bowel. Patients received follow-up for 6-15 months. The bowel function score of the study group was significantly higher than the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fast LDH staining can clearly identify ganglion cells and rapidly diagnose HD and HAD intraoperatively. In addition, this method is helpful for improving patient prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jixin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Jiexiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feng
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006627:Hirschsprung Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006651:Histocytochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D008297:Male; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase