title: Airborne fungal spores, pollen grains, and vegetable cells in routine Papanicolaou smears.
abstract: The objective was to demonstrate the presence of airborne fungal spores, pollen grains, and vegetable cells in smears and establish their significance. Microscopic examination was of smears stained by the Papanicolaou technique. We found several types of airborne spores (Alternaria, Exserohilum, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Curvularia, and Ascosmycete), pollen grains (Lilium, bullrush, Pinus, Acacia, hazelnut, and oak), and several types of vegetable cells. The existence of these structures may be due to intrinsic or to extrinsic contamination of the sample. Anemophilous fungi spores and pollen grains have been shown to possess great allergenic capacity. Pollen grains and vegetable cells may be mistaken for certain microorganisms or malignant cells.
authors.affiliation: Cytopathology, Instituto de Piedras Blancas (Asturias), Piedras Blancas, Spain. rafaelmgiron@terra.es
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-Girón
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ribas-Barceló
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: García-Miralles
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: López-Cabanilles
authors.forename: Maria Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Tamargo-Peláez
authors.forename: Concepción
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Torre-Bayón
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernández-Alvarez
mesh_terms: D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D011058:Pollen / Q000166:cytology*; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000166:cytology*; D014675:Vegetables / Q000166:cytology*