ASPIRATION CYTODIAGNOSIS OF PANCREATIC ENDOCRINE TUMORS

We have reviewed fine needle aspirates from II patients with pancreati c endocrine tumours and evaluated the diagnostic criteria as well as t hose proposed in the literature in an attempt to formulate reliable cr iteria for the cytological diagnosis of these tumours. As expected, no single criterion was reliable for diagnosis: however, cells with roun ded or polygonal rather than a columnar shape, cytoplasmic granularity , and eccentricity of round or oval nuclei with a finely stippled, eve nly distributed chromatin pattern were features which, taken together, usually enabled one to make a reliable diagnosis. A striking feature of the smears was the cellular monotony and absence of pleomorphism of the tumour cells. Immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy identif ied tumour products and confirmed the diagnosis.