ULTRAFAST PAPANICOLAOU STAIN IS NOT LIMITED TO RAPID ASSESSMENTS - APPLICATION TO PERMANENT PINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION SMEARS

Ultrafast Papanicolaou (Pap) stain, a 90-second preparation originally designed for the immediate assessment of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) smears (Yang and Alvarez, Acta Cytol 1995;39:55-60), can also be adap ted for permanent FNA smears. It involves the addition of three simple steps prior to the conventional Pap procedure: the first step is to m ake the cells appear larger, thus increasing the resolution for analys is of cellular derails; the second step is to hemolyse the background blood, thus unmasking tumor cells; and the third step is to bring out the vibrant colors in the cells and the nucleoli, which stain red. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.