Intraoperative pleural lavage in esophageal carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Cytological examination of intraoperative pleural or peritoneal lavage specimens is useful for predicting outcomes for patients with various carcinomas. There have been few reports regarding cytological examination of pleural lavage fluid in esophageal carcinoma.


METHODS
Intraoperative pleural lavage fluid was collected before and after esophagectomy and was examined by Papanicolaou and Giemsa staining for 78 patients with esophageal carcinoma.


RESULTS
Although epithelial cells were found for 29 patients, only blood cells were detected for 48. The remaining one patient exhibited no cells in the specimen. For 4 of 78 (5.2%) patients, tumor cells were detected in the pleural lavage fluid after esophagectomy. Three of these four patients had T4 tumors.


CONCLUSIONS
Positive cytological findings for pleural lavage fluid, using Papanicolaou and Giemsa staining, is correlated with regrowth of residual tumor and poor prognosis in esophageal carcinoma.
Natsugoe
S
S
First Department of Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
Shimada
M
M
Nakashima
S
S
Tokuda
K
K
Matsumoto
M
M
Kijima
F
F
Baba
M
M
Shimizu
K
K
Tanaka
S
S
Aikou
T
T
D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000166:cytology*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010994:Pleura / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis