01676nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653001100059653001100070653001200081653001500093653002500108653000900133653002600142100001600168700001600184245011600200856006100316300001100377490000700388050001700395520099600412022001401408       2012                            d  c2012 Jul-Sep10aBiopsy10aHumans10aleprosy10aMast Cells10aMycobacterium leprae10aSkin10aStaining and Labeling1 aChatura K R1 aSangeetha S00aUtility of Fite-Faraco stain for both mast cell count and bacillary index in skin biopsies of leprosy patients.  uhttp://www.ijl.org.in/jul-sep/4%20KR%20Chatura%20(4).pdf  a209-150 v84  aCHATURA 20123 a<p>To assess the utility of a single stain for both mast cell count and bacillary index (BI), 50 skin-biopsie patients were stained with Fite-Faraco (FF) stain, viewed under oil immersion and BI calculated using the Ridley's logarithmic scale, and mast cells counted as the number of cells per mm2. Mean mast cell count per mm2 at the tuberculoid pole was lowest in TT 7.9 and highest in BT 14.23. At the lepromatous end, it was highest in BL 9.21, while in LL it was 8.23. Highest counts were seen in the borderline types overall. The correlation coefficient between histopathological diagnosis and BI is 0.822 which is a positive correlation to a significant degree. The correlation coefficient between histopathological diagnosis and mast cell count was found to be -0.17, which is a negative correlation but not to a significant degree. FF stain was utilised to visualise both bacilli for estimation of BI and mast cells for mast cell count, a seldom attempted feature in literature.</p>  a0254-9395