Occurrence of intercellular spaces (windows) in metastatic adenocarcinoma in serous fluids: A cytomorphologic, histochemical, and ultrastructural study
Gh. Yu et al., Occurrence of intercellular spaces (windows) in metastatic adenocarcinoma in serous fluids: A cytomorphologic, histochemical, and ultrastructural study, DIAGN CYTOP, 20(3), 1999, pp. 115-119
The application of cytomorphologic criteria to the examination of serous ef
fusions allows the reliable diagnosis of malignancy in the majority of case
s. One feature observed in tissue fragments previously thought to be indica
tive of mesothelial origin is the presence of intercellular windows, presum
ably due to long surface microvilli. In this study; however; we examined cy
tologic preparations of 143 effusion and body-cavity washing specimens and
noted distinct intercellular window formation within tissue fragments of ad
enocarcinoma in 13% of the cases studied. Stains for mucicarmine, Alcian bl
ue with hyaluronidase pretreatment, and periodic acid-Schiff following dias
tase digestion on corresponding cell block material demonstrated that inter
cellular mucin contributes to such window formation in greater thar? half o
f these cases. Thus the presence of intercellular windows within tissue fra
gments does not, in isolation, preclude the diagnosis of malignancy in sero
us effusions. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.