Collision tumors of the thyroid gland are a rare entity. Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid (PSCCT) is a malignant epithelial tumor, composed entirely of cells with squamous differentiation and accounting for less than 1% of all malignancies of the thyroid gland. PSCCT arises from other thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, tall cell variant papillary carcinoma, follicular carcinoma, and anaplastic carcinoma1. We describe a patient with the combination of a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma and follicular carcinoma of the thyroid.

Aim: To evaluate the platelet indices in differentiating reactive and clonal thrombocytosis. Study Design: Observational study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai, and the duration of study is one year. Methods: This is an observational study conducted at our college for a one-year duration. A total of 100 patients with thrombocytosis of platelet count over 4.5 lakhs/mm3 will be included in the study. The study sample consists of cases with thrombocytosis of over 4.5 lakhs. The utility of platelet indices Mean Platelet Volume (MPV) and Platelet Distribution Width (PDW) for the differential diagnosis of thrombocytosis were analysed and assessed. Results: Out of the total 100 cases, 94 were reactive thrombocytosis, and 6 were confirmed to be clonal in origin. Infectious and reactive aetiology was significantly more compared to clonal thrombocytosis. Patients with reactive thrombocytosis showed a lower mean platelet volume and platelet distribution width compared to primary thrombocytosis. In reactive thrombocytosis, MPV ranged from 8.0 - 9.0 fl with mean MPV of 10.6 fl and PDW ranged from 8.4 – 10.1 % with mean PDW of 10.26 %. In clonal thrombocytosis, MPV ranged from 8.2 –1 1.1 fl with mean MPV of 9.5 fl and PDW range was 8.9 – 11.2 % with mean PDW of 10∙1%. Conclusions: The findings of our study favour a reactive cause in thrombocytosis when MPV and PDW are in the lower range and clonal causes had a high MPV and PDW in comparison to reactive causes.

Introduction: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an economically accessible tool useful in cases of Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). It can be utilized as a laboratory index, indicating systemic inflammation. The sensitivity of NLR to HbA1c must be validated to utilize for its prognostic potential. Correlation of HbA1c with NLR and other parameters have been analyzed to assess the utility of NLR in chronic cases of T2DM, thereby evaluating the utility of NLR as a marker of systemic inflammation in diabetes. Place and Duration of study: Department of Pathology, Saveetha Medical College, Chennai, One year. Objectives: 1. To compare levels of NLR and other parameters in diabetics with those of healthy people and observe the nature of correlation between HbA1c and other parameters.2. To find the linear relationship between HbA1c and other parameters in the diabetic population. Material and methods: An observational study conducted at our Institute from January to October 2020. Blood profiles of 240 T2DM patients and 100 healthy controls were recorded. Results: The NLR (5.35) of T2DM group was significantly elevated (p 0.001) compared to NLR of control group (2.16). Urea and creatinine levels had positive regression coefficients with HbA1c indicating susceptibility of diabetic patients to diabetic nephropathy. Conclusion: NLR showed significance in T2DM. Increased NLR is associated with elevated HbA1c and poor glycemic control in patients with T2DM. It can be used as a prognostic tool during the follow up of diabetic patients.

Background: Rhinosporidiosis refers to a granulomatous inflammation of mucocutaneous sites caused by Rhinosporidium Seeberi, presenting most frequently as polypoidal lesions in the nose and nasal cavity. Involvement of sites like the conjunctiva, trachea, nasopharynx, skin, and genitourinary tract are rare. Cases of nasal rhinosporidiosis with satellite skin nodules around head and neck region has been reported. Primary cutaneous involvement is however extremely rare [1]. We report the case of a 58 year old male who came with complaints of anterior chest wall swelling since 2 months with sudden increase in size. The patient was sent for FNAC with a clinical diagnosis of a soft tissue tumor. FNAC however revealed sporangia of varying sizes with endospores along with foreign body giant cell reaction. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis. Cutaneous rhinosporidiosis may mimic a soft tissue tumor. FNAC being a minimally invasive and less expensive procedure gave a definitive diagnosis, and also aided to initiate prompt management of the condition.

Basaloid squamous carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a rare tumor type characterized by an ulcerated, infiltrating growth pattern; nests or cords of small basaloid cells; prominent peripheral palisading of cells in the tumor cell nests; and the absence of significant stromal reaction. The characteristic microscopic features are nests, lobules, trabeculae and groups of round to oval basaloid tumor cells. These tumor cells are small with high nuclear cytoplasmic ratio and shows peripheral palisading. There may be areas of comedo type necrosis and areas showing typical squamous cell carcinoma differentiation.

Epigenetics is a very active field of research today. This is a mechanism by which environmental factors can influence gene expression. Indeed, epigenetics has been defined as a new science aimed at studying the mechanisms by which the genotype generates the phenotype, without there being any modifications in the DNA sequence. In this context, we conducted a prospective study on the records of 523 patients hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of the CHU Mohamed VI in Marrakech, over a period of 6 months, from July 01, 2019 to December 31, 2019. Main results obtained were as follows: A high MRB carriage rate affecting 45.5% of hospitalized patients during the study period. Late MRB infections are an important part of this. The analysis of the risk factors of these infections had demonstrated the major role of invasive procedures, in particular mechanical ventilation and KTVO, as well as the high duration of hospitalization which was on average 17.47 days in our study. The bacteriological profile was dominated by enterobacteriaceae, particularly K. pneumoniae and E. cloacae. Of all the MRBs sent to the Kremlin Bicêtre hospital, 55 strains were analyzed by MLST; including 36 strains of K. pneumonia and 19 strains of E. cloacae. The Enterobacteriaceae strains analyzed in our study were mainly carbapenemase producers, of the NDM and OXA-48 type, and ESBL type CTX-15M. Of all the bacterial clones identified, a high rate of resistance to antibiotics, in particular carbapenems, was noted in the following clones: ST 1805, ST 1158 and ST 307. The ST 1805 clone was exclusively found in our series.