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Updated: May 11, 2026
Cell Block Preparation from Cytology Specimen with Predominance of Individually Scattered Cells
Published on: July 21, 2009
The effectiveness of the liquid-based preparation method in cerebrospinal fluid cytology
Asuman Argon1, Mehmet Ali Uyaroğlu, Deniz Nart
1Ministry of Health Izmir, Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital, Medical Pathology Clinic, Izmir, Turkey. asumanargon@gmail.com
Objectives:
Since malignant cells were first detected in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), numerous methods have been used for CSF examination. The cytocentrifugation and liquid-based cytology (LBC) methods are two of these. We aimed to investigate whether the results from the LBC method were different from the results of the cytological diagnosis of the CSF materials that were prepared using the cytocentrifugation method.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective analysis was conducted using the pathological records of 3,491 (cytocentrifugation on 1,306 and LBC on 2,185) cytological specimens of CSF which were diagnosed over a 4-year period between January 2007 and December 2011. The Fisher exact test was used to compare the results of the LBC and cytocentrifugation methods.
Results:
While there was a noticeable decrease in nondiagnostic diagnosis and a slight decrease in suspicious diagnosis, there was an increase in malignant and benign diagnosis with the LBC method in comparison to the centrifugation method. Statistically, the decrease in nondiagnostic diagnosis was considered significant (p < 0.0001).
Discussion:
The LBC method seems like a better option than the cytocentrifugation method, because of many preparatory, screening and diagnostic advantages, especially in pathology departments where materials come from far away and large volumes are examined.
