title: Is endoscopic gastric cytology worthwhile? An evaluation of 903 cases of carcinoma.
abstract: From 1978 to 1989, 4,772 endoscopic cytological examinations of the stomach have been done in our laboratory, including 903 patients with a final diagnosis of gastric carcinoma. There were seven false-positive results among 3,810 examinations done in patients without malignant disease (specificity 99.8%). Cytology yielded positive results in 785 of 903 carcinomas (sensitivity 86.9%), while biopsies were positive in 826 of 895 cases (sensitivity 92.3%). Both techniques combined resulted in positive diagnoses in 886 of 903 malignancies (sensitivity 98.1%). Cytology was positive in 52 patients with negative biopsies as well as in eight patients in whom biopsies had not been obtained. Thus cytology added 60 positive diagnoses (6.7%) to the overall diagnostic results. These results suggest that endoscopic cytology is useful for avoiding unnecessary delays caused by having to perform repeated endoscopic biopsies. It should be done as a routine procedure in those institutions in which significant numbers of gastric carcinomas are studied and where an experienced gastrointestinal cytology laboratory is available.
authors.affiliation: Gastrointestinal Cytology Laboratory, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cussó
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Monés
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ocaña
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Méndez
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vilardell
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005773:Gastroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors