Comparison of direct smear and cytospin of peritoneal fluid samplings in the diagnosis of gynecological malignancies.

ABSTRACT

While direct smear and cytospin of peritoneal fluid samplings have often been routinely prepared, their comparative usefulness and accuracy in the diagnosis of gynecological malignancies had not been evaluated in Siriraj Hospital Specimens obtained from 328 patients in whom clinical evidence raised the suspicion of gynecological malignancies were reviewed independently and without knowledge of the diagnosis. Direct smear gave better sensitivity and a lower false negative rate than cytospin (73.2% vs 69.6% and 26.8% vs 30.4%, respectively) but the difference was not statistically significant. Diagnostic accuracy can be improved by combining the two techniques. It can be concluded that direct smear is comparable to cytospin technique in diagnosing gynecological malignancies from peritoneal fluid samplings. Direct smear is the most useful method in places where cytospin is not available.