Quantitative and qualitative structure analysis of cell exfoliated from the normal vulva and from benign, precancerous and malignant vulvar lesions

Abstract

The value of cytological smears for screening for cancer of the external female genital organs has been stressed recently on repeated occasions. The evaluation of the cornified cells obtained from different vulvar diseases has however only been undertaken by subjective criteria. The qualitative structural analysis and the planimetric evaluation of 3,260 cornified cells from 123 patients with vulvar lesions of different types showed fundamental and essential differences in the criteria of malignancy compared to cytology of the uterine cervix. Whereas the nuclear plasmatic ratio and the chromatine structure are of secondary importance, the absolute size of the nucleus and the cell and especially the degree of cytoplasmatic polymorphy have a high degree of cytoplasmatic polymorphy have a high degree of importance. The special cytomorphological criteria described permit the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions of the vulva from the cytology of the cornified cells.