Application of international system for reporting serous fluid cytology (ISRSFC) in effusion samples-a prospective study in an oncology setting.

INTRODUCTION: Serous fluid cytology is a cost-effective procedure that can help in the diagnosis, staging, and origin of the malignancy. Recently introduced International System for Reporting Serous Fluid Cytology (ISRSFC) standardizes the reporting of serous fluid cytology in the 5 categories: Category 1: Nondiagnostic (ND), Category 2: negative for malignancy (NFM), Category 3: atypia of undetermined significance (AUS), Category 4: suspicious for malignancy (SFM), and Category 5: malignant (MAL). Here, we present our experience adopting the ISRSFC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We implemented ISRSFC in December of 2019 at our institute and included a cohort of 555 prospective effusion samples. The pertinent surgical pathology, radiology, and clinical follow-up were also extracted to assess the risk of malignancy (ROM) and performance parameters. RESULTS: The assessment of interobserver reliability indicated substantial concordance (κ = 0.717) between the 2 investigators for serous fluid categorization. A total of 555 effusion samples were classified as follows: ND, 14 (2.5%); NFM, 394 (71%); AUS, 12 (2.2%); SFM, 13 (2.3%); and MAL, 122 (22%). The ROM for the ND, NFM, AUS, SFM, and MAL categories was 57.1%, 9.9%, 66.7%, 66.7%, and 97.2%, respectively, in peritoneal effusions and 57.1%, 7.1%, 66.7%, 100%, 100%, respectively, in pleural effusions. The ROM for NFM and MAL was 0% and 100%, respectively, in pericardial effusion. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the proposed ISRSFC can help in achieving uniformity and reproducibility in diagnoses and also help in risk stratification in cytology. ISRSFC was successfully adopted by our cytology laboratory and clinicians, with overall diagnostic performance similar to previous studies.

Evaluation of Dual Marker Approach Using Heart-Type Fatty Acid Binding Protein and High Sensitivity Troponin-I as an Alternative to Serial Sampling for Diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Objective: An early rule in (high specificity and high PPV) and early rule out (high sensitivity and high NPV) is essential for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (AMI) to provide better utilization of resources, cost-effectiveness, and to reduce mortality. Methods: Consecutive chest pain patients (n=80) with symptoms indicative of coronary artery disease reported to the emergency room within 6 hours after onset of symptoms. An alternate Dual Marker Approach (DMA; both Heart-type Fatty Acid Binding Protein (H-FABP) and High sensitive Troponin-I (hsTnI) at 0 h) was compared to the Double Sampling approach (DSA; hsTnI at 0 h and 3 h (ESC guidelines)). Results: If both biomarkers were increased (n=17; 77.5%: 11 STEMI and 6 NSTEMI) above their respective cut-off value (HFABP 6.3 ng/mL and hsTnI 20.24 ng/L) at presentation, AMI ensued (100% PPV). Also, if both the markers were below their respective cut-offs at presentation, AMI was safely ruled out (n=41; with only 1 false negative). However, among the patients with either of these markers above their respective cut-off at presentation (n=22), DSA was required to find remaining AMI cases (n=4). Overall, DMA stands best for rule out (sensitivity 95.5%, NPV 97.6%) while DSA is superior for rule in (98.2% specificity, 95.2% PPV). Conclusion: With the use of the proposed DMA, 58/80 (72.5%) patients with acute chest pain were reliably ruled in/ruled out for AMI at the presentation itself, while the remaining patients still required serial monitoring (DSA) for confirmation.

The Utility of Ancillary Techniques in the Cyto-Diagnosis of Malignant Scalp Lesions.

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is rapid, inexpensive, and easy technique to establish the diagnosis of scalp lesions. The use of ancillary techniques such as immunocytochemistry (ICC), immunohistochemistry (IHC), and flow cytometry on aspiration material aids in accurate diagnosis which is additionally beneficial for management and prognosis. AIMS: The objective of this prospective case series was to evaluate the utility of ancillary techniques in the accurate cyto-diagnosis of malignant scalp lesions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was a prospective case series that included 64 cases of scalp lesions in which FNAC had been performed for diagnosis. The lesions were categorized as Non-diagnostic/Inadequate, Inflammatory, Benign and Malignant. In all the cases that were categorized as malignant additional material was collected for ancillary testing that included ICC, cell block preparation followed by IHC and flow cytometry. RESULTS: Non-diagnostic/inadequate aspirates were 17.19% (n = 11/64), 25% (n = 16/64) aspirates were inflammatory, 35.93% (n = 23/64) aspirates were benign and 21.87% (n = 14/64) aspirates were categorized as malignant. With the aid of ancillary techniques, 57.14% malignant scalp aspirates were accurately categorized as epithelial origin. Lesions of bone and soft tissue constituted 28.57% (n = 4/14) of cases and lesions of hematolymphoid origin constituted 14.29% (n = 2/14) of all cases. CONCLUSION: This is a novel study where accurate categorization of malignant scalp tumors has been done with the use of ancillary techniques. This is useful as it may help in defining the tumor type, may aid in patient management. The material obtained can also be triaged for molecular testing.

Cytological diagnosis of bancroftian filariasis presented as a subcutaneous swelling in the cubital fossa: an unusual presentation.

Filariasis is a disabling parasitic disease and the prevalence of lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti is quite high in India. However, W. bancrofti presenting as a subcutaneous swelling and a demonstration of microfilariae in cytological smears from upper extremity lesions is extremely rare. We report a case of 20-year-old male who presented with a small subcutaneous swelling near medial aspect of the left cubital fossa. The wet mount preparation showed many motile microfilariae. Cytology smears revealed a large number of sheathed microfilariae with the tail tip free of nucleus, identified as W. bancrofti without significant inflammatory cell infiltrate. Indirect ELISA was highly positive for specific recombinant W. bancrofti filarial antigen (WL-L2). The role of cytology cannot be underestimated in clinically unanticipated cases of bancroftian filariasis, especially with the amicrofilaremic state. Filariasis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis during cytological evaluation of any swelling, especially in endemic areas.

Cytological features of malignant eccrine acrospiroma presenting as a soft tissue mass axilla: A rare sweat gland tumor with histologic correlation.

Malignant eccrine acrospiroma is an infrequent, highly malignant primary skin tumor derived from eccrine sweat glands. Though fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a well-established diagnostic tool, but if a skin adnexal tumor or primary skin lesion is suspected clinically, the usual approach is biopsy due to easy accessibility. Being itself rare, cytologic features of this lesion is hardly encountered in case reports. As a result, very little is known about the appearance of adnexal tumors like malignant eccrine acrospiroma on fine-needle aspiration samples. A 50-year-old man presented with swelling in the left axilla, clinically suspected to be a soft tissue sarcoma. Fine-needle aspiration was advised, and a cytological diagnosis of malignant eccrine acrospiroma was rendered which was later confirmed on histological examination. Rapid, accurate diagnosis of these tumors is imperative as they have very poor prognosis and an aggressive course with recurrence and/or metastasis. FNAC plays a decisive and easy diagnostic modality in these unusual, rare cases of highly malignant primary skin tumor, and awareness of the lesions is indispensable in their management.

A comparative and evaluative study of two cytological grading systems in breast carcinoma with histological grading: an important prognostic factor.

OBJECTIVE: Cytonuclear gradings in the breast carcinoma raise the level of FNA reportage and improves patient management. Our aim was to evaluate and compare two cytological grading methods (Robinson's and Mouriquand's) in breast carcinoma and correlate it with Nottingham modification of Scarff-Bloom-Richardson (SBR) histological grading. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 30 cytologically proven cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma were graded cytologically and histologically. Cytograding was done by Robinson's and Mouriquand's methods (grades I to III) followed by comparison of the two methods. Cytogradings were correlated with SBR grading method. Sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and concordance and discordance rates were evaluated. RESULTS: An overall concordance of 76.66% between cytogradings, of 83.33% between Robinson's method and SBR, and of 66.66% between Mouriquand's method and SBR was seen. Robinson's method correlated best with SBR in all the three nuclear grades. Robinson's method showed a diagnostic accuracy of 90% with 91.30% sensitivity while Mouriquand's method had an accuracy of 76.66% with 95.65% sensitivity. The specificity by Mouriquand's method was quite low (14.28%) as compared to Robinson's method (85.71%). CONCLUSION: Comprehensive cytological grading of breast cancer by Robinson's method seems better because of more objective set of criteria, easy reproducibility, and specificity.