A CYTOLOGICAL STUDY OF HEPATITIS-B SURFACE-ANTIGEN LOCALIZATION USINGORCEIN STAINING IN HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

Twenty patients of suspected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were studi ed to test the hypothesis that orcein staining of cytological specimen s from HCC can detect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). HBsAg statu s, cytological examination of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) m aterial for diagnosis by Papanicolaou and modified orcein staining for HBsAg were carried out. Observer variability and agreement on orcein positivity was assessed and analyzed using kappa statistics. HCC was d iagnosed in 13 patients and 8 were HBsAg positive; 8 had orcein positi vity as judged by observer 2 and 7 by observer 1. A significant kappa value of 0.837 suggested a high degree of observer agreement in the in terpretation of orcein positivity. This technique is safe and quick an d can supplement the histopathological diagnosis of hepatitis B virus associated HCC.