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Updated: May 4, 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
Does calretinin immunohistochemistry reduce inconclusive diagnosis in rectal biopsies for Hirschsprung disease?
Pedro L T de Arruda Lourenção1, Bonifácio K Takegawa, Erika V P Ortolan
1*Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery †Department of Pathology, Botucatu Medical School, UNESP-Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu-SP, Brazil.
Abstract:
Many difficulties occur during the evaluation of rectal biopsies for the diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease. We investigated whether the introduction of calretinin (CR) immunohistochemistry in a diagnostic panel could decrease the rate of inconclusive results. Data from 82 patients undergoing rectal biopsies before and after CR introduction were analyzed. Inconclusive results were obtained in 17 of 45 rectal biopsies (37.8%) in the series of cases before CR introduction and in 5 of 42 rectal biopsies (11.9%) in the series of cases after CR (P < 0.006). The inclusion of CR in the histopathologic panel may improve the diagnostic accuracy of Hirschsprung disease.
