Effusion Cytology at King Faisal Hospital; Kigali: A Review of 151 Cases

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The clinical management of patients presenting with effusions requires the determination of the cause of the effusion for direction of options of management. The cytologic examination of the effusion is usually required to rule out or confirm malignancy. This is a retrospective review of 151 effusions cytologically investigated at King Faisal Hospital. Methods: One hundred and fifty one effusions collected in EDTA tubes were investigated. The specimens were centrifuged; and from the sediment alcohol-fixed; air-dried smears were prepared for Papanicolaou and Diff-Quik staining; respectively. Results: From the total of 151 effusions; malignant cells were identified in 26 cases as follows 15 pleural; 8 ascitic and 3 peritoneal malignancies consisted of 15 adenocarcinomas; 5 lymphomas; 3 mesotheliomas 2 myelomas and 1 small cell carcinoma. Conclusions: Malignant effusions constituted 17 percent of all the effusions examined. Adenocarcinomas were the most frequently diagnosed metastatic malignancies in both pleural and ascitic effusions and in both females and males. Primary sites of most of the malignancies could not be determined except for mesotheliomas and small cell carcinoma