Comparison of ThinPrep and conventional preparations on fine needle aspiration cytology material

OBJECTIVE: To compare the various cytologic features on ThinPrep 2000(R) (T P) (Cytyc Corporation, Marlborough, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) and conventional preparation (CP) specimens from fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) mat erial by a semiquantitative scoring system. STUDY DESIGN: In this prospective study a total of 71 consecutive cases wer e included. In each case, two passes were performed. The first pass was use d for conventional preparations, with direct smears made and fixed immediat ely in 95% alcohol for Papanicolaou stain. For TP preparation a and pass pr oduced material for processing in the ThinPrep 2000(R). The TP and CP slide s were studied independently by two observers and representative slides of CP and TP compared cellularity, background blood and necrotic cell debris, cell architecture, informative background, presence of monolayer cells, and nuclear and cytoplasmic details by a semquantitative scoring system. Stati stical analysis was performed by Wilcoxon's signed rank test on an SPSS pro gram (Chicago Illinois, U.S.A.). RESULTS: TP preparations contained adequate diagnostic. cells in all cases and were tangibly superior to CP preparations concerning monolayer cells, a bsence of blood and necrosis, and preservation of nuclear and cytoplasmic d etail (statistically significant, Wilcoxon's signed rank test, P<.000). CONCLUSION: TP preparations are superior to conventional preparations with regard to clear background, monolayer cell preparation and cell preservatio n If is easier and less time consuming to screen and interpret TP preparati ons because the cells are limited to smaller areas on clear backgrounds, wi th excellent cellular preservation. However, TP preparations are move expen sive than CP and require some experience for interpretation.