Morphological spectrum of effusion cytology in a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Background: The exfoliated cells in the body fluids are easily obtained by tapping and are subjected to biochemical and cytological examination. The study of fluid cytology has paramount importance in identifying atypical cells as the finding of cancer cells in such a specimen denotes that the patient has advanced cancer. Materials and Method:The present study is a descriptive study carried out over a period of one year from December 2018 to November 2019. Various body fluids including peritoneal, pleural, cerebrospinal fluids were included in this study. H&E stain and papanicolaou stain were done. They were then reported and classified as malignant and non-malignant lesions. Results: A total of 532 body fluids were included in this study. Peritoneal fluid comprised the majority of the samples with 228 (42.86%) followed by pleural fluid in 190 (35.71%) cases. Among the samples received a male preponderance was noted. Majority of the fluid specimens were reported as negative for malignant cells. Conclusion: Body fluid cytology is a rapid and simple diagnostic modality. In our study, majority of the malignancies were found in the peritoneal fluid with maximum cases being adenocarcinoma. Conventional smear method is a fairly good method for all types of effusions.