Efficiency of Crystal Violet Stain to Study Mitotic Figures in Oral Epithelial Dysplasia

To evaluate mitotic activity in the different grades of oral epithelial dysplasia using 1% crystal violet stain.

A descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Histopathology of the Post Graduate Medical Institute, Lahore on a total of thirty-three cases of the Oral Epithelial Dysplasia (OED). Fresh, frozen paraffin-embedded archival tissue blocks were collected from Lahore General Hospital, Lahore & Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Nawaz Sharif Hospital, Yakki Gate, Lahore. The representative sections were taken and, after processing, mounted on glass slides and stained with H&E and crystal violet stains. The stained slides were then examined under an optical microscope. The efficacy of 1% crystal violet stain to identify mitotic figures in the different grades of oral epithelial dysplasia was assessed with the sample t-test. A difference of p < 0.05 was considered to be significant.

A comparison of the mitotic figure count in two categories in sections stained with both stains showed a statistically significant difference. An increase in the mean mitotic count was noted in the sections of OED stained with crystal violet in comparison to the sections of OED stained with H&E which was statistically significant (p = 0.00).

Counting of mitotic cell is the rapid and simplest way of evaluating the proliferative activity of cells. Crystal violet stain can be a rationalised step in the staining of mitotic figures compared to the usual H&E staining and can be employed as a selective stain during routine histopathological procedures.