Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
Diagnosis of Hirschsprung's Disease by Immunostaining Rectal Suction Biopsies for Calretinin, S100 Protein and Protein Gene Product 9.5
Published on: April 26, 2019
Calretinin immunohistochemistry: A new cost-effective and easy method for diagnosis of Hirschsprung's disease
Lavanya Kannaiyan1, Sujani Madabhushi, Ramani Malleboyina
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Niloufer Hospital for Women and Children, Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad, India.
Aim:
To evaluate the efficacy of calretinin immunostaining in diagnosing Hirschsprung's disease (HD).
Materials And Methods:
Sixty cases were studied over a period of 1 year (July 2010-June 2011). There were 36 full-thickness biopsies and 24 resected specimens. Calretinin processing was done on the paraffin-embedded blocks after routine histopathological examination.
Results:
Of the 36 biopsy specimens, in 19 cases HD was diagnosed by hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining earlier. In 2 patients, ganglion cells were seen and HD was ruled out. In 15 cases, there was a diagnostic dilemma and calretinin was used. Ganglion cells were found in 3 specimens and nerve fibers in 5. In all 24 resected specimens, calretinin correlated with the findings on H and E staining.
Conclusions:
Calretinin was extremely useful in solving the suspicious and indeterminate cases of HD. It can serve as a valuable cost-effective diagnostic aid in the centers where acetylcholinesterase enzyme histochemistry is not available.
