Importance of Serosal Fluid Cytology as an Aid to Primary Diagnosis: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Cytological study of fluids is an inexpensive, simple procedure and has significant utility in diagnosing
neoplastic and non neoplastic lesions. The cytological examination of fluids in combination with physical
examination helps identify aetiologic agents, follow the natural process of the disease and monitor the response
to the treatment.
Aim: To determine the diagnostic utility of serosal fluid cytology and analyse the incidence of neoplastic and non
neoplastic lesions using serous fluid cytology.
Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study comprising 311 cases conducted in a tertiary
care hospital. Purposive sampling was used to recruit the participants. All the patients with pleural effusions,
ascites or in whom Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF), pericardial and synovial fluids examination was indicated were
included. The provisional diagnosis was obtained from case sheets, including relevant clinical information. Smears
were prepared from freshly tapped specimens without adding anticoagulants and were processed by routine,
conventional smear technique. The data were analysed using the SPSS version 22.0 for Windows. Numerical
variables were reported as frequency and percentage. The chi-square test was used wherever necessary, and the
p-value less than 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: The peritoneal fluid was the most common fluid collected in the present study, followed by pleural fluid
and CSF. The malignancy rate in the present study was 19 (10.4%) of peritoneal fluid, 6 (5.9%) for pleural fluid,
and 2 (4.1%) for CSF.
Conclusion: Adenocarcinoma was the most common malignancy found in this study, which was in concordance
with the research conducted earlier, where gold standard investigations confirmed the findings. In the peritoneal
fluid, most of the patients had cirrhosis and tuberculosis. In pleural fluid and cerebrospinal fluid, most of them had
tuberculosis and chronic inflammatory conditions, respectively. Previous researchers confirmed similar findings
in their studies. It is seen that malignant and benign conditions like tuberculosis can be diagnosed well with
effusion cytology.