EFFECT OF ULTRAFAST PAPANICOLAOU STAINING ON NUCLEAR AND TEXTURAL FEATURES IN BREAST-CANCER CYTOLOGY

OBJECTIVE: To compare quantifiable cytologic features of mammary lesio ns prepared using the Ultrafast Papanicolaou, Diff-Quik and Papanicola ou methods. STUDY DESIGN: Thirteen patients with mammary lesions were studied; the majority had histopathologic diagnoses of infiltrating du ctal carcinoma. For each patient, three specimens were prepared, using (1) Diff-Quik staining after air drying, (2) Papanicolaou staining af ter wet fixation, and (3) the Ultrafast Papanicolaou procedure. Descri ptors of nuclear size, shape and texture were computed from an average of 61.9 normalized nuclear images per specimen. Differences between p reparation methods were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance.RE SULTS: While differences in nuclear size, shape and texture existed be tween the three cytologic staining methods, only form factor varied si gnificantly between conventional and Ultrafast Papanicolaou stain. Nuc lear areas were larger in Ultrafast Papanicolaou specimens than conven tional Papanicolaou specimens, but this difference was not statistical ly significant. CONCLUSION: The Ultrafast Papanicolaou procedure impro ves on conventional Papanicolaou staining in terms of speed, with no i mportant quantifiable differences in nuclear morphology.