A MORPHOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF MINUTE DEPRESSED ADENOMAS IN FAMILIAL POLYPOSIS-COLI

In a morphometrical study of minute adenomas in familial polyposis col i (FPC), ranging from 0.8mm to 1.5mm in diameter, five parameters of d epressed adenomas were compared with those of ordinary polypoid adenom as. The density of glands (DG), an index of structural atypia, and the nuclear-cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio, an index of cellular atypia, were hi gher in depressed adenomas than in polypoid adenomas (74.8% vs 66.8% a nd 37.8% vs 32.7%, respectively). The cell area (C-area) of depressed adenomas was less than that of polypoid adenomas (107.3 mu m(2) vs 121 .1 mu m(2)), but there was no significant difference in values for the nuclear area (N-area) in the two types (40.0 mu m(2) vs 39.2 mu m(2)) . The higher N/C ratio of depressed adenomas was, therefore, not cause d by enlargement of the nuclei but by reduction of the cell size. In a ddition, values of the sphericity of nuclei (SN) (3.14 vs 3.65) indica ted rounder nuclei in depressed adenomas than in ordinary ones. The hi gher Dc and N/C ratio of the depressed adenomas indicates their higher grade of atypia than that of ordinary polypoid adenomas.