Sachar Kanika, Patil Vijayalaxmi
Pathology, Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Hospital & Research Centre, BLDE (Deemed to be University), Vijayapura, IND.
Cureus. 2024 Sep 25;16(9):e70158. doi: 10.7759/cureus.70158. eCollection 2024 Sep.
: Cell block is an indispensable supplement in the practice of cytopathology. The diagnostic utility of cytology specimens is significantly impacted by the capacity to generate sufficient cell blocks obtained from concentrated fluid samples or fine-needle aspiration specimens after routine processing. This routine processing involves getting directed passes to produce a cell block, especially if the cytopathologist believes additional immunocytochemical stains and/or molecular studies would be required. : This study compared two methods of cell block preparation: the sodium alginate (SA) method and the plasma thrombin (PT) method. A comparison was made regarding overall cellularity, morphological preservation, and concealed artifacts. : This cross-sectional study evaluated 104 serous fluid samples and fine-needle aspirates. Cell blocks were prepared for each sample using the plasma thrombin and sodium alginate technique. The formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded cell blocks were subjected to histochemical staining with hematoxylin and eosin, and slides were assessed for cellularity, artifacts, and morphological preservation. : The study utilized chi-square tests to analyze cellularity, morphology, and artifact presence, demonstrating significant differences in cellularity and artifacts between the two methods, with the sodium alginate method showing more cellularity and more artifacts, while morphologically, there was no significant difference between the two methods. : Our study's findings have practical implications for cytopathologists. We conclude that, compared to plasma thrombin methodology, the sodium alginate cell block technique yields higher cellularity, while there was no difference in morphology. Even though artifacts were more prevalent in sodium alginate cell blocks than in plasma thrombin cell blocks, our study suggests that the former can be a better alternative for cell block examination.
细胞块是细胞病理学实践中不可或缺的补充。细胞学标本的诊断效用受到从浓缩液体样本或常规处理后的细针穿刺标本中获取足够细胞块能力的显著影响。这种常规处理包括进行定向制片以制作细胞块，特别是当细胞病理学家认为需要额外的免疫细胞化学染色和/或分子研究时。 本研究比较了两种细胞块制备方法：海藻酸钠（SA）法和血浆凝血酶（PT）法。对整体细胞数量、形态保存和隐匿性伪像进行了比较。 这项横断面研究评估了104份浆液样本和细针穿刺物。使用血浆凝血酶和海藻酸钠技术为每个样本制备细胞块。将福尔马林固定、石蜡包埋的细胞块进行苏木精和伊红组织化学染色，并对玻片进行细胞数量、伪像和形态保存评估。 该研究利用卡方检验分析细胞数量、形态和伪像的存在情况，结果表明两种方法在细胞数量和伪像方面存在显著差异，海藻酸钠法显示细胞数量更多且伪像更多，而在形态上，两种方法之间没有显著差异。 我们研究的结果对细胞病理学家具有实际意义。我们得出结论，与血浆凝血酶方法相比，海藻酸钠细胞块技术产生的细胞数量更高，而形态上没有差异。尽管海藻酸钠细胞块中的伪像比血浆凝血酶细胞块中更普遍，但我们的研究表明，前者可以成为细胞块检查的更好选择。
