Histopathological study of lesions of appendix

The human appendix is a supposedly funtionless organ, but can cause morbidity and mortality because it is likely to be infected. Acute Appendicitis being the most common surgical emergency. Appendicectomy specimens from suspected acute appendicitis often appear macroscopically normal but histological analysis reveal a more sinister underlying pathology.A three year study was performed to determine the incidence of various non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions of appendix. To study the histopathology of various lesions of appendix.It is a retrospective study for a period of three years at Tertiary care hospital. The histopathological reports and clinical details were collected and slides were reviewed and evaluated. Special stains were used wherever required.The study included 1092 cases of lesions of appendix. The commonest lesion was chronic non-specific appendicitis (48.27%) followed by acute appendicitis with (47.80%). Other non neoplastic lesions found were fibrous obliteration of appendix (2.10%), chronic appendicitis with Enterobius vermicularis infestation (0.83), tuberculosis (0.18), xanthogranulomatous appendicitis (0.09%) and amoebic appendicitis (0.09%). Neoplastic lesions seen were low grade mucinous neoplasm (0.18) and serrated adenoma (0.09). Chronic non-specific appendicitis is the commonest appendiceal lesion. The various lesions of appendix clinically present as acute or chronic appendicitis but histology reveals the true nature of the lesion and hence remains the gold standard method.