Pleural, Peritoneal, and Pericardial Effusions

Fine Needle Aspiration of Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma Presenting with Pleural Effusion

“…It is a universal fact that the distinction of malignant cells, especially the adenocarcinoma cells from reactive mesothelial cells, is a frequent problem in fluid cytology, necessitating application of various ancillary tests. 15 Markers that are found to be useful in the detection of thyroid malignancy are HBME-1, galectin-3, cytokeratin-19(CK19) and thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1) 16 ; the latter is also used as a marker for malignancies of pulmonary origin. 17 Clinically, pleural effusion is more common with primaries such as mesothelioma, breast carcinoma and bronchogenic carcinoma and is less frequent with other malignancies.…”

Pre-analytical issues in effusion cytology

“…It is important to know that heparin added after the collection of a fluid in a glass bottle will not inhibit clotting [1,2]. However, many laboratories may not require the use of anticoagulant and prefer the fluid in its natural state [3]. While the addition of heparin does not impact the morphologic features it can negatively affect other findings e. g. causes lower pH [4].…”

“…In addition, many laboratories will hold the malignant cases to be stained at the end before cleaning the staining circuit thus avoid cross contamination of other slides. This is based on the notion that clusters of malignant cells particularly in the super positive fluids can shed in the staining solutions and deposit on other slides [3,19] ( Figure 2). While this represents an additional step, it is well worth it in the authors experience particularly when using direct smears.…”

Diagnostic Accuracy of Toluidine Blue–Stained Wet Films in Effusion Cytology

“…This will help obtain better-quality cytospin preparations and avoid contamination caused by highly cellular samples. 4 In conclusion, using toluidine blue-stained wet films provides an effective triage procedure to determine which type of technical procedure should be applied to each sample, thus reducing laboratory costs and labor.…”