Confocal sectioning of thick, otherwise undiagnosable cell groupings in cervical smears.

Confocal sectioning of thick, otherwise undiagnosable cell groupings in cervical smears results in detailed visualization of the diagnostic features of neoplastic fragments in the original Cytobrush smear. We argue that the large step forward due to confocal microscopy is the dramatic improvement of axial resolution, resulting in images with a high degree of detail. As a result, mitotic figures, chromatin patterns and glandular spaces materialize out of the blur. When the serial confocal sections are compared to the parallel thin, plastic sections, some differences in the images are observed mainly due to the absence of infiltration by plastic. This study showed that the confocal microscope can be very useful in the diagnostic laboratory because the information extracted from a sample containing these otherwise undiagnosable cell groupings is enhanced to such a degree that a final diagnosis can be made with confidence, maximizing the benefit of the sampling and thus increasing its value.