NONGYNECOLOGIC CYTOLOGY UTILIZING THE THINPREP PROCESSOR

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of the ThinPrep Processor (TP) for no ngynecologic cytology. STUDY DESIGN: We reviewed the number of unsatis factory specimens from the esophagus, common bile duct, hepatic duct, pancreas, gastric, bronchial wang, vertebra, submandibular area and ne ck over a one-year period, before and after TP implementation. For a o ne-year period after TP implementation, the cytologic diagnoses of sel ected TP specimens with corresponding surgical tissue diagnoses were c ompared, and the TP slides were reviewed in discrepant cases. RESULTS: The number of unsatisfactory specimens was reduced from 17% to 1% aft er TP implementation. The cytologic diagnoses of 145 TP specimens were in agreement with surgical tissue diagnoses. However, in 43 cases the cytology and tissue diagnoses were discordant. On review of 26 of the discrepant cases, the majority of TP slides were cellular, with good nuclear and cytoplasmic detail. Discrepancies resulted from sampling e rrors in 19 cases and TP interpretation errors in 7 cases. CONCLUSION: In our laboratory, TP is a reliable processor for nongynecologic spec imens.