MORPHOMETRIC COMPARISON OF A METASTATIC TRANSITIONAL-CELL CARCINOMA SIMULATING SQUAMOUS METAPLASIA IN SPUTUM CYTOLOGY - A CASE-REPORT

Sputum cytology was performed to rule out primary lung carcinoma in a patient with a cough of recent onset, an infiltrate on chest roentgeno graphy and a history of bladder and prostate carcinoma. The cytology t eas interpreted correctly as metastatic transitional cell carcinoma. R eview of the cytology by other pathologists without the benefit of the previous history or histologic material resulted in interpretations o f reactive/metaplastic tissue. A morphometric comparison of nuclear pa rameters between the cells in the sputum and the squamous metaplastic cells seen in the sputum of a patient with viral pneumonia from our ar chives was performed. Evaluation of the current sputum cytology withou t the benefit of clinical information or additional studies may have l ed to a false-negative diagnosis.