Clinicopathological study of rhinosporidiosis with special reference to cytodiagnosis

BACKGROUND: Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic infective disorder caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi. It usually presents as a soft polypoidal pedunculated or sessile mass. Nose and nasopharynx are the commonest sites, followed by conjunctiva, maxillary sinuses, penis, urethra. AIMS: The aim of this study is to present the clinicopathological features of rhinosporidiosis in a large series of cases and to asses the role of cytology in diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 63 cases were included in the study group. Diagnosis of rhinosporidiosis was confirmed in all cases by histology with or without cytological evaluation. May-Grünwald-Giemsa and hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining was used in all cases, and special stains like periodic acid Schiff and mucicarmine were used in a few cases. Detailed clinical history of all the cases was noted. Routine hematological investigations including ABO blood grouping were done in all possible cases. RESULTS: Evaluation of the clinical data in our series demonstrated male predominance (36 out of 63; 56%). Nose and nasopharynx were the commonest sites involved (74.6%). Routine hematology tests did not show any significant change in most of the cases. However, a significant proportion of the study population (18 out of 41; 44%) had blood group O. Cytodiagnosis attempted in 17 cases out of 63 cases achieved 100% correlation with histology. CONCLUSION: Morphological appearance alone in a few cases failed to give diagnosis of rhinosporidiosis. Cytology can be very helpful in diagnosis in these cases, but histology is the mainstay of diagnosis.