Non-gynaecological Cytology
Respiratory tract cytology
Anatomy and histology of the respiratory tract
Indications of respiratory tract cytology
Cell sampling and preparation methods
Reporting terminology
Normal cells
Non-cellular elements and specimen contaminants
Benign cellular changes
Inflammation
Respiratory infections
Benign lesions
Preneoplastic changes of respiratory epithelium
Lung cancer and other malignant tumours

Indications of respiratory tract cytology

Compared with the remarkable success of the Pap smear in detecting and preventing cervical cancer, respiratory cytology (mostly sputum) has been a disappointment as a mass screening test for lung cancer. The problem is not lack of accuracy (sensitivity or specificity), but rather that even in high-risk patients (such as male smokers older than 45 years), it is not cost-effective, the diagnosis often comes too late (no increased survival), and difficult therapeutic choices arise when multifocal disease is detected in this vital organ.

Role of respiratory tract cytology

  • tumor detection, confirmation, and typing of both primary and metastatic disease
  • posttherapeutic monitoring of patients with lung cancer , as a complementary procedure to radiologic examinations
  • diagnosing a variety of benign diseases, and plays an important role in assessing the presence of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised hosts such as patients with AIDS and transplant recipients

 

 

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