Endometrial cells in the peritoneal cavity after laparoscopy and chromotubation.

The presence of endometrial cells in peritoneal fluid before and after laparoscopy and chromotubation was studied in 35 patients at different days of the menstrual cycle. Endometrial cells were found more frequently in peritoneal fluid samples taken in the second half of the menstrual cycle.

Quantitative analysis of the nuclear area variation in benign and malignant breast cytology specimens.

The diagnostic value of the nuclear size for discriminating between benign and malignant breast lesions was studied by karyometric analysis of the nuclear area in May-Grünwald-Giemsa-stained imprints from 173 benign and 103 malignant breast lesions. The mean nuclear area, the maximum nuclear area and the percentage of nuclei larger than 200 sq micrometer discriminated between about 60% of the breast carcinomas and 95% of the benign lesions. The coefficient of variation had considerably less discriminatory power and also showed the lowest correlation with the mean nuclear area. A weak negative correlation was found between the mean nuclear area and the age of the patients with benign lesions. Carcinomas with small nuclei (area less than 110 sq micrometer) were found more frequently in patients with negative lymph nodes than in patients with positive nodes. Additional parameters for nuclear shape and texture may lead to a further objectification of nuclear pleomorphism in breast cytology specimens.

A comparison of thiomersal and 50% alcohol as preservatives in urinary cytology.

The efficacy of 50% ethyl alcohol and of thiomersal as preservatives in urinary cytology were compared. In both methods over 80% of the cells were sufficiently well preserved after three days to allow cytomorphological evaluation, and over 50% on the seventh day. In the specimens without preservative, only 54% and 28% were intact after the same time intervals. In contrast with 50% ethyl alchohol, thiomersal is a more effective bactericide, it does not increase the volume of the sample, it is cheaper, and it does not affect the cytomorphology.

Effect of various routine cytopreparatory techniques on normal urothelial cells and their nuclei.

Nuclear and cytoplasmic sizes of cells in permanent, stained smear preparations differ from those in unfixed unstained cells. In air-dried MGG-stained smears the area of the nucleus is 50% larger and that of the cytoplasm 30% larger. In wet-fixed Papanicolaou-stained smears the nucleus is 10--30% and the cytoplasm is 15--55% smaller. The shrinkage in the wet fixation method is dependent on the concentration of the ethyl alcohol applied. The staining method has relatively little influence on nuclear and cytoplasmic size. The three-dimensional appearance of the smeared, stained cells is also dependent on the cytopreparatory technique applied:in the methods with air-drying the nuclei and cells are flat and in the wet fixation method more spherical. In the methods with air-drying the nuclear:cytoplasmic ratio is larger than that seen with the wet fixation methods.