The aim of this study was to verify the reliability of the Tzanck test, performed by both traditional cytomorphology and the direct immunofluorescence technique, in diagnosis of oral pemphigus vulgaris. Cytologic smears were obtained from oral erosions of thirty patients with well ascertained pemphigus vulgaris. Control smears were taken from thirty patients affected by various other diseases of oral mucosa and from thirty healthy subjects. Cytologic diagnosis of oral pemphigus was based upon significant findings of acantholytic cells by cytomorphology, and of epithelial cells with pericellular deposition of IgG (which persisted after cytocentrifugation) by direct immunofluorescence. The cytomorphological test gave positive results in twenty‐eight patients with pemphigus and in one patient with herpetic stomatitis, and negative results in all other cases. The immunocytologic test gave positive results in all patients with pemphigus, and negative results in all controls. These findings indicate that the cytomorphological test may be a useful method for screening oral pemphigus, while the immunocytologic test may provide a reliable method for definitive diagnosis.

Endometrial cytologic samples obtained with Cohen's endocyte from 501 normally menstruating women were studied and correlated with histologic sections from cell blocks. In this article, the cytologic diagnostic criteria for normal cyclic endometrium are pointed out. The diagnostic accuracy of normal cyclic endometrium has been 92%. A possibility of a cytologic dating is discussed. The diagnostic accuracy was 71.8% for early proliferative endometria, 82% for late proliferative, 93% for early secretory, 81% for midsecretory, and 60% for late secretory endometria.

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) cytology is being increasingly employed in conjunction with physical examination and mammography in the pre-surgical diagnosis of breast nodules. In the present study, we have submitted to multicenter validation an immunocytochemical test which employs monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) to breast-tumor-associated antigens (BTAA) for the diagnosis of breast cancer. The results of this analysis, which has evaluated 846 FNAs, show that the immunological test has a sensitivity of 88.62%, a specificity of 97.9% and an accuracy of 92.4%. The predictive value of a positive and a negative finding were 98.4% and 85.57% respectively. Comparison between the cytological and immunocytochemical diagnosis displayed a higher sensitivity, accuracy and predictive value of a negative result with the latter method (p less than 0.01). Our findings clearly indicate that immunocytochemical methods can complement and improve the diagnostic accuracy of FNA cytology of breast nodules.

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It is a well-known fact that thymic tissue enclosed in millipore diffusion chambers is capable of restoring both lymphopoiesis and immunological reactivity. Attempts to restore leukemogenesis by the same technique have so far proved unsuccessful. It seemed worthwhile to use the thymic tissue culture technique in order to obtain a quantitatively greater number of epithelial reticular cells. These cells were transplanted intramuscularly in the thigh of 40–50 day old W/Fu rats, thymectomized at birth and injected with Gross virus at 3–4 days of age. In 5 out of 11 animals a lymphoma appeared 6–8 months later at the site of implantation of thymic cells. In control animals (not injected with virus), islands of more or less morphologically normal thymus developed from the grafted cells. The findings suggest that, whereas reticular cells can restore lymphopoiesis and immunological reactivity, the presence of a whole thymus is essential for leukemogenesis to occur.