Journal of Medical & Surgical Pathology
Open Access

Methods of Collecting Cells for Cytopathologic Analysis

Bhil Plyth^{* *}Correspondence: Bhil Plyth, Department of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, South Wales, Australia, Email:

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Description

Cytopathology is frequently used for diagnosis of cancer and look into disorders affecting a variety of different body regions, including the detection of several infectious diseases and other inflammatory conditions. The Pap smear, a screening test used to find precancerous cervical lesions that may develop into cervical cancer, is one example of a common application of cytopathology. Because the samples may be smeared across a glass microscope slide for subsequent staining and microscopic analysis, cytopathologic procedures are sometimes referred to as "smear tests."

However, there are additional methods, such as cytocentrifugation, that can be used to prepare cytology samples. Smear tests of various kinds may also be used to diagnose cancer. It is characterized as a cytologic smear in this sense. There are two methods of collecting cells for cytopathologic analysis: exfoliative cytology, and intervention cytology.

Exfoliative cytology

This technique collects cells that have either naturally exfoliated off of a surface in the body (spontaneous exfoliation) or have been mechanically scraped or brushed off of that surface (mechanical exfoliation). When cells from the pleural cavity or peritoneal cavity are shed into the pleural or peritoneal fluid, this is an example of spontaneous exfoliation.

Various techniques can be used to collect this fluid for analysis. Examples of mechanical exfoliation include Pap smears, which involve scraping cells from the cervix with a cervical spatula, and bronchial brushings, which involve implanting a bronchoscope into the trachea and using it to evaluate a visible lesion by brushing cells from its surface and applying them to cytopathologic analysis.

Intervention cytology

It refers to the branch of cytology in which the healthcare professional will intervene the body of the patient to get a sample of cells for testing. Fine-Needle Aspiration (FNA) is the most used form of interventional cytology.

Fine-needle aspiration, also known as Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC), is the process of micro coring with a needle attached to a syringe to collect cells from lesions or masses in various human organs. Suction is frequently used to enhance yield. For deep-seated lesions within the body that cannot be identified by palpation, FNAC may be assisted by ultrasound or Computed Tomography Scan (CT) scan. FNAC can be carried out under palpation guidance (i.e., the physician can sense the lesion) on a mass in superficial areas such the neck, thyroid, or breast. FNAC is commonly utilized in many regions; however the effectiveness probability is based on the practitioner skill.

The success rate of a proper diagnosis is higher when carried out by a pathologist alone or in a team with a pathologistcytotechnologist than when carried out by a non-pathologist. It might be because a pathologist can examine specimens under a microscope instantly and continue the process if sampling wasn't good enough. Range 23 to 27 refers to fine needles.

FNAC is usually the least harmful method of obtaining diagnostic tissue from a lesion because needles as thin as 27 gauges may nearly always yield diagnostic material. A syringe holder can sometimes be utilized to make it easier to execute the biopsy with one hand while immobilizing the mass with the other. Interventional cytology and FNAC are now interchangeable terms.

Cytology of sediment

For cytology of sediment, a sample is taken from the preservative that was applied to the biopsy or autopsy specimen during processing. The preservative is thoroughly mixed before being placed in a centrifuge tube and defragmented. Smearing is done using the sediment. These sediments are the cells that are shed by the autopsy and biopsy specimen during processing.