Detection Of Malignant Effusions Research Articles

The minimum volume of pleural fluid required to diagnose malignant pleural effusion: A retrospective study.

Background:Pleural fluid cytology is a quick and accurate method to diagnose malignant pleural effusions. The optimal volume of fluid for cytological analysis has not yet been identified, and clinical recommendation based on some published clinical experiences has been to send large volumes of fluid for cytological analysis. A quality improvement initiative at our institution was conducted to determine the volume of fluid sufficient for a diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.Materials and Methods:The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board. All pleural fluid specimens that were divided into three volumes (25 mL, 50 mL, and 150 mL) and sent for cytological examination were reviewed.Results:A total of 74 samples from 60 individual patients were evaluable. Thirty-six patients (60%) had a previous diagnosis of malignancy. Of the 74 specimens, 26 (35.1%) were positive for malignancy. The detection rate for malignant pleural effusion by cytology for 25 mL, 50 mL, and 150 mL were 88.5%, 96.2%, and 100.0%, respectively (P = 0.16). Two specimens that were negative in the 25 mL samples turned out to be positive in the 50 mL and 150 mL samples. One specimen was negative in the 25 mL and 50 mL samples but positive in the 150 mL sample.Conclusions:Our study did not show any statistically significant difference in the detection of malignant effusion in the 25 mL, 50 mL, and 150 mL group.

The Utility of Toluidine Blue for Assessing Cross Contamination in Fluid Specimens

Results: All of the patients found in this study presented with malignant pleural effusion or ascitesdother serous cavity effusions resulting from metastatic breast carcinoma were not seen. “Cannonball” formation was only found in 5 of the six cases of moderately differentiated (Nottingham grade 2) breast carcinoma (Figure 1). All five of these cases had Nottingham sub-scores of 3 for tubule formation, 2 for pleomorphism, and 1 for mitotic activity. The 5 cases of primary breast carcinoma with poor differentiation (grade 3) and with malignant effusion all displayed single malignant cells or dyshesive clusters of malignant cells (Figure 2). The average time from breast biopsy to detection of malignant effusion was 298 days for grade 2 primary breast carcinoma and 2003 days for grade 3 primary breast carcinoma (Table 1). Immunohistochemistry for common breast carcinoma molecular markers was noted for the original biopsy and malignant effusion. In the malignant effusion, ER and PR were often lost while mammoglobin was commonly retained (Table 2).

Detection of malignant effusions: Comparison of a telomerase assay and cytologic examination

Detection of malignant effusions: Comparison of a telomerase assay and cytologic examination

Detection of malignant effusions: Comparison of a telomerase assay and cytologic examination

Detection of malignant effusions: Comparison of a telomerase assay and cytologic examination