A STUDY OF MAST CELLS IN SURGICALLY RESECTED APPENDIX.

Appendicitis is one of the common conditions requiring emergency surgery. The exact etiopathogenesis is poorly understood in those appendices which are resected for suspected appendicitis and are classified as normal by histopathology on conventional staining. Acute appendicitis is thought to be initiated by progressive increases in intraluminal pressure that compromise venous outflow. However, faecolith are not found in many cases in which acute appendicitis is confirmed. The present study is a study of mast cells in surgically resected appendix, which includes 150 cases of acute appendicitis, chronic appendicitis, histology negative acute appendicitis , and appendices removed in the course of surgeries done for some other disease/control, who attended D. Y. Patil Hospital and Research centre, Kolhapur. This is a prospective study undertaken from May 2014 to April 2016. The results of this study show that acute appendicitis was the commonest affliction (44.65%) with chronic appendicitis being the second (28%) and histology negative acute appendicitis also sharing the large number of cases at 24%. Mean mast cell count was highest in chronic appendicitis followed by acute appendicitis and by histology negative acute appendicitis and least in appendices removed in the course of surgeries done for some other disease. Therefore, the type I hypersensitivity reaction with release of mediators by mast cells might be a predisposing factor for the sequence of events leading to appendicitis.