Cytology Test
PAP Smear
- This is one of the easiest screening tests available for detecting cervical cancer / precancerous conditions
- Inadequate specimens are responsible for most of the false negative diagnoses
- Liquid based cytology like SurePath offer improved means of sampling the cervix and added advantage of HPV sampling with the same specimen.
- Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) and Fine Needle Non Aspiration Cytology (FNNAC) are simple outpatient procedures where a fine needle is inserted into the palpable lump and the material obtained is smeared onto glass slides, stained with Papanicolaou and MGG stain and cells are evaluated under the microscope
- The procedure does not require anesthesia and is psychologically more acceptable than a biopsy
- This rapid preoperative procedure allows cancer to be confirmed or more often excluded in patients who are worried about a ‘lump’
- Material can be collected for microbiological studies like culture / PCR in suspected cases of tuberculosis
- FNNAC sampling displays more cellular material, less cellular trauma and more importantly less likelihood of obscuring by blood. Also it has better patient compliance
- Examination of body fluids, washings, lavages, urine cytology, CSF cytology
- The above mentioned samples are processed in a specialized centrifuge called Cyto-centrifuge (Cytospin4)
- Cytospin enables a thin monolayer preparation from any liquid medi
Liquid based cytology