Mf. Lachman, MORPHOMETRIC COMPARISON OF A METASTATIC TRANSITIONAL-CELL CARCINOMA SIMULATING SQUAMOUS METAPLASIA IN SPUTUM CYTOLOGY - A CASE-REPORT, Acta cytologica, 38(3), 1994, pp. 407-409
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.