An aspiration material preparation system: application of a new liquid-based cytology technique for fine-needle aspiration of the breast.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the usefulness of our original liquid-based cell preparation system AMAPS (aspiration material preparation system) and to compare it with the AutoSmear system in breast aspiration cytology.


METHODS
A total of 487 specimens of fine-needle aspiration cytology of the breast were retrieved, of which 250 were processed with AMAPS and 237 with the AutoSmear method (before the introduction of AMAPS). A final histological diagnosis was obtained by an excisional biopsy or a surgical resection in 148 cases.


RESULTS
Cell recovery rates were significantly improved with AMAPS (96.8 and 99.1% in Papanicolaou and Diff-Quik, respectively) compared with the AutoSmear method (40.9 and 42.3%, respectively; p<0.01). Within-run and day-to-day reproducibility of cell recovery was satisfactory, with coefficients of variations of 6.8 and 8.7%, respectively. Following the introduction of AMAPS in breast cytology, the unsatisfactory rate decreased significantly (from 16.0 to 8.8%; p<0.01), while the diagnostic sensitivity for malignancy did not change (97.8 to 98.1%). Moreover, the diagnostic specificity for benign lesions increased from 75 to 93.8%, thus decreasing the excision rate of fibrocystic disease.


CONCLUSIONS
AMAPS may serve as an alternative to the conventional technique or commercially available liquid-based cytology systems.
Department of Cytopathology, Tokoname Municipal Hospital, Tokoname, Japan. Es241107@yahoo.co.jp
Eiichi
E
Sakakibara
Setsuo
S
Kimachi
Katsunori
K
Hashimoto
Hiroshi
H
Inagaki
Tetsuro
T
Nagasaka
Shinya
S
Wakusawa
Toyoharu
T
Yokoi
D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D001940:Breast / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity