Utility of morphometry and nucleolar organizer regions count in the differentiation of reactive and malignant mesothelial cells in pleural effusions

: The authors have evaluated in eight reactive and eight malignant pleural effusions the number of intranucleolar dots representing the nucleolar associated proteins stained with silver colloid technique (interphase nucleolar organizer regions-AgNOR). The mean number per nucleus in benign reactive mesothelium was significantly lower than in mesothelioma effusions. Other morphometric measurements of nuclear diameters and areas were effected. The authors evaluate the variability of the AgNOR counts and morphology in reactive and mesothelioma cells of pleural fluids.