PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF CYTO-RICH - AN IMPROVED AUTOMATED CYTOLOGY PREPARATION

A new cervical cytology monolayer preparation system called Cyto-Rich was evaluated. Using samples from 557 patients, Cyto-Rich monolayers w ere compared to matched conventional smears. After conventional smears were prepared and spray fixed, residual exfoliated cells were transfe rred to preservative fluid. The cell suspensions were gently disaggreg ated and the epithelial component enriched with gradient centrifugal s edimentation. The batched samples were then placed on the Cyto-Rich wo rk station where slides are automatically prepared and stained. The re sults demonstrate that Cyto-Rich prepared monolayers are vastly superi or to the conventional smears for cell presentation. While the study s howed 99% overall concordance, Cyto-Rich improved the detection of low -grade cervical intraepithelial lesions. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.