Comparison of Conventional Cytology, Liquid-Based Cytology, and Cell Block in the Evaluation of Peritoneal Fluid in Gynecology Malignancies

Abstract

Background: Peritoneal washing cytology has become an accepted method in evaluating gynecology malignancies. Objective: The aim of this work was to compare the conventional cytology, liquid-based cytology (LBC), and cell block in the evaluation of peritoneal fluid. Materials and Methods: A total of 48 cases with ovarian and uterine malignancy were included in this study. The age of the patients varied from 15 to 71 years. All the 48 cases were subjected to conventional smear, LBC, and cell block preparation. Results: The results of LBC and conventional methods were in line with all cytological criteria, except for the background (p = 0.045), but no significant difference was found regarding adequacy (p = 0.12), cellularity (p = 0.13), cell architecture (p = 0.751), nuclear details (p = 0.96), and cytoplasmic details (p = 0.32). The kappa correlation between conventional cytology and LBC, conventional cytology and cell block, and LBC and cell block was 0.769, 0.791, and 0.945, respectively. The most prevalent malignancy which led to peritoneal fluid involvement was papillary serous carcinoma of the ovary. Conclusion: Compared to conventional cytology, the liquid-based method had no significant superiority in the evaluation of the peritoneal fluid method, but the combined usage of smears and cell block improved the diagnostic accuracy of the peritoneal washing samples in different gynecological malignancies.