Aim/Background: Ghost cells are seen in calcifying odontogenic cyst (COC) and some other odontogenic and non-odontogenic lesions. There are varying opinions regarding their origin, nature, significance and relation in different lesions. It has been stated that ghost cells represent an abnormal type of keratinisation. This study was done with an aim to demonstrate the ghost cells in COC with one routine stain- hematoxylineosin; and three special stains- Ayoub Shklar, Mallory and van Gieson. Materials and Methods: Four tissue sections were made from paraffin embedded specimens of COC. Sections were stained with hematoxylineosin stain, Ayoub-Shklar stain, Mallory stain and van Gieson stain respectively. The stained sections were evaluated for efficacy of the four staining techniques to stain the ghost cells. Results: The ghost cells could be identified in the sections stained by all the four different stains used in this study. When compared among all the four stains, Ayoub-Shklar stain and Mallory stain appeared to be better than hematoxylineosin stain and van Gieson stain to discern the ghost cells from rest of the cystic epithelium. Conclusion: The ghost cells were stained positively by special stains used to demonstrate keratin. It indicates that they accumulate keratin in their cytoplasm during the pathological transformation process.

Keywords: Ghost Cells; Calcifying Odontogenic Cyst; Keratin