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Updated: May 6, 2026

Author Spotlight: A Model to Study the Systemic and Local Dynamics of CD8+ T Cells During LN Metastasis
Published on: January 26, 2024
[The lymph nodes imprint for the diagnosis of lymphoid neoplasms]
Carolina Peniche-Alvarado1, Christian Omar Ramos-Peñafiel, Carlos Martínez-Murillo
1Departamento de Hematología, Hospital General de México, Secretaría de Salud, Distrito Federal, México, Mexico. leukemiachop@hotmail.com.
Background:
lymphoma is the most frequent lymphoid neoplasm in our country. Its diagnosis is based on histopathological findings. The lymph node imprint has been used for more than 40 years. The aim was to establish the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of lymph node imprint and estimate the inter-observer rate.
Methods:
we did an observational, retrospective, prolective study, based on the lymph node imprint obtained by excisional biopsies over a period of 6 years.
Results:
the inclusion criteria was met on 199 samples, 27.1 % were considered as reactive (n = 54), 16.1 % Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 32), 40.2 % (n = 80) non-Hodgkin lymphoma and 16.6 % (n = 33) as metastatic carcinoma. Comparing with the final histopathology report, the sensitivity and specificity of lymph node imprint were 88 % (0.81-0.95) and 64 % (0.55-0.73) respectively, the positive predictive value was 67 % (0.59-0.76) and the negative predictive value was 86 % (0.79-0.94). The interobserver kappa index was 0.467.
Conclusions:
the lymph node imprint remains as a useful tool for the diagnosis of lymphoid neoplasm. The agreement between observers was acceptable.
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