title: Diagnostic accuracy of pericardial fluid cytology: an analysis of 53 specimens from 44 consecutive patients.
abstract: Over a 7-yr period, a total of 53 pericardial fluid specimens from 44 patients was examined. A correlation between cytological and histological diagnosis was made in 19 of these cases. In the remaining 25 cases, where a biopsy was not performed, the cytological diagnosis was correlated with the final clinical diagnosis and the patients' clinical outcome. Finally, in 9 out of 14 cases of malignancy where both cytological and a histological diagnosis was made, the cytologic prediction of the histologic type of cancer was evaluated. The overall sensitivity was 100%, the overall specificity was 93.3%, and the overall cytological accuracy was 95.4%. The predictive value of the correct histologic type of cancer by cytology was 77.7%. Our findings show that the careful cytomorphological examination of pericardial fluid aspirates is a valuable, reliable, and diagnostically highly accurate method, which could be performed on a routine basis in a busy cytopathology department. Judiciously chosen ancillary procedures, as well as clinicopathological correlation, are of great value for an accurate diagnosis in problematic cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Medical School, University of Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: V D
authors.initials: VD
authors.lastname: Malamou-Mitsi
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Zioga
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Agnantis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D016591:Histocytological Preparation Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000473:pathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity