Cytologic distinctions between clinical groups using curette-probe compared to cytology brush

Area of Science:

• Allergy and Immunology
• Rhinology
• Cytopathology

Background:

• Nasal cytology is crucial for diagnosing various patient conditions.
• Previous studies utilized the curette-probe for nasal cytology.
• The study aimed to compare curette-probe with cytology brush sampling methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the diagnostic accuracy of nasal leukocytes obtained via curette-probe versus cytology brush.
• To differentiate clinical categories of patients attending an allergy clinic.
• To assess the utility of these sampling methods in identifying rhinitis and inflammatory nasal disease.

Main Methods:

• Adult allergy clinic patients underwent nasal sampling using both curette-probe and cytology brush.
• Quantification of eosinophils and total leukocytes was performed on all samples.
• Statistical comparisons and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to evaluate sampling method performance.

Main Results:

• Curette-probe samples significantly distinguished patients with rhinitis symptoms and abnormal nasal appearance.
• Leukocyte counts normalized for epithelial cells showed a stronger distinction between patient groups.
• Curette-probe identified higher eosinophil counts exclusively in symptomatic rhinitis patients, unlike brush samples.

Conclusions:

• Curette-probe nasal sampling provides superior leukocyte and eosinophil quantification for characterizing rhinitis patients.
• Total leukocyte counts from curette-probe samples may serve as a biomarker for adult inflammatory nasal disease.
• The curette-probe is a more effective tool than the cytology brush for nasal inflammatory disease assessment in allergy evaluations.