Cytology of body fluids from different sites: an approach for early diagnosis of malignancy.
Malignant effusions are a common presenting sign of malignancy and reflect dissemination. A retrospective study of all fluid samples accessioned at the Department of Pathology, TUTH from April 2000 to October 2002 were done. Over the study period, a total of 584 specimens were examined- 324 peritoneal fluid, 224 pleural fluid, 19 pericardial fluid, 9 knee joint effusion and 8 Cerebro-Spinal Fluid (CSF). One hundred and nine (18.66%) out of 584 cases were found to have malignancy, 57 were male and 52 were female. The age group of the adult male ranged from 42-78 years and female ranged from 43-62 years. Three patients were children with age ranging from 8-11 years. Adenocarcinoma was the commonest that comprised 89%, followed by Non Hodgkin's lymphoma 6.5% squamous cell carcinoma 2.7% and small cell carcinoma comprised 1.8 %. Exfoliative cytology is cheap, rapid and highly effective tool for the evaluation of body fluid and should be advised in all effusion cases.
KMC Teaching Hospital, Sinamangal, Kathmandu, Nepal. saibinita@yahoo.com
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D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D001826:Body Fluids; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D002648:Child; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D035422:Pleural Cavity / Q000166:cytology; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000166:cytology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors