ROLE OF ELECTRON-MICROSCOPY IN HEAD AND NECK PATHOLOGY IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN

Diagnostic electron microscopic studies specific to the head and neck region are limited in both children and adults. Even information about the workload created by specimen acquisition from this region in the electron microscopy laboratory is lacking. To address these deficienci es, various specimens gathered from adults (N = 6607) and children (N = 1556), over a 5- and 10-year period, respectively, and blocked in pl astic resin were surveyed. Head and neck samples accounted for 16.4% o f these samples from adults and 13.5% from children, representing siza ble contributions to workload from an anatomic region amounting to les s than 10% of body mass. In adults, diagnostic problems posed by metas tatic neoplasms account for a considerable proportion of the cases sub mitted for electron microscopy; in the pediatric age group, undifferen tiated primary tumors of the head and neck region frequently require u ltrastructural study. In both circumstances, spindle cell, look-alike, neuroendocrine, and small cell tumors can frequently be rapidly asses sed and differentiated by ultrastructural details. Problem cases are i nevitable given the complexity of this region and the number of differ ent tissues and organs in close proximity. It is advantageous to antic ipate the possibility of encountering difficult differential diagnosti c problems by sampling lesions of the head and neck for glutaraldehyde fixation more frequently.