ABSTRACT
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES To assess the diagnostic utility of cell block technique in comparison to conventional cytosmear, in the study of pleural fluids. To compare our results with existing literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS The present prospective study was done for a period of two years from 1st August 2015 to July 31st 2017 in the Department of Pathology, Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal. During this period, pleural fluids obtained by aspiration were analyzed. A total of 53 cases were studied RESULTS Out of the total 53 cases included in our study of pleural effusion males were 32 and female were 21 contributing 60.3% and 39.6% respectively. Age range of our patient was from 18years to oldest patient being 68 years with the dominant age group being 31–40 years. Cytosmear analysis showed 35 (66.05%) benign/inflammatory effusions, 11 (20.75%) suspicious of malignancy, 7 (13.20%) malignant cytology’s. On cell block analysis 43 (81.20%) were diagnosed as benign/ inflammatory effusions, 10 (18.8%) were diagnosed to be malignant. CONCLUSION The present study demonstrates that the pleural fluid cytology is the most useful test in establishing the diagnosis of pleural effusion. From the results it can be concluded that cell block technique demonstrates a higher diagnostic rate of malignant effusions compared to cytosmear as the morphological features were better identified by this method. We conclude that the cell block technique method when used as an adjuvant to routine smear examination increases the diagnostic yield and also carries the advantage of carrying further IHC studies.