Comparative evaluation of conventional papanicoloaustain (PAP) stain efficacy versus modified ultrafast papanicolou stain (MUFP) stain

Abstract

Introduction: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a cost effective and accurate method which plays an important role in pre-operative screening of various benign and malignant lesions in different organs. Various rapid stains are available which are used for rapid diagnosis on fine needle aspirates, but, most cyto-pathologists prefer stains which gives crisp cytological & nuclear features which can be achieved by 95% ethanol fixed PAP stain. Aim: To assess the efficacy of MUFP stain in various tissue aspirates and to compare the results of MUFP stain with conventional PAP stain. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was done by staining two slides with conventional PAP and MUFP stain which were assessed and scored. Results: The Quality index of MUFP stain for lymph node, thyroid, breast salivary gland and soft tissue was 0.88, 0.87, 0.88, 0.86 respectively and Quality Index for PAP stain was 0.84, 0.75, 0.79, 0.90 and 0.92 respectively. Conclusion: MUFP stain stained smears showed a clear background with crisp nuclear features as compared to conventional PAP stain. Thus MUFP stain can be considered as a rapid, reliable and can be used as a routine cytological stain on FNA smears with locally available reagents with unequivocal morphology. Keywords: Fine needle aspiration, PAP stain, Modified ultrafast papanicolaoustain (MUFP).