Assessment of the Utility of Cytology and Flow Cytometry of Cerebrospinal Fluid Samples in Clinical Practice. Acta Cytol 2018;62(2):130-136
Date
03/07/2018Pubmed ID
29510385DOI
10.1159/000487070Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85045221129 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
OBJECTIVES: We sought to assess the utility and limitations of both flow cytometry (FC) and cytology for the analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in a practical clinical setting.
METHODS: A total of 393 consecutive CSF samples from 171 patients submitted for both cytomorphologic and FC assessments were analyzed.
RESULTS: Both FC and cytology findings were negative for malignancy in 315/393 samples (80%), and either positive (POS) or suspicious/atypical (SUSP/AT) in 7% of samples. This resulted in high agreement between FC and cytology (87%). Minor discrepancies were present in 4% of the cases. In 28 samples, an abnormal population was detected by FC but not by cytology.
CONCLUSIONS: FC and cytology are important complementary methods for analyzing CSF samples. In cases where cytology is SUSP/AT and FC is inconclusive or negative, additional specimens should be submitted for immunostaining, cytogenetics, and/or molecular studies.
Author List
Nam AS, Giorgadze T, Tam W, Chadburn AAuthor
Tamara Giorgadze MD Professor in the Pathology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdolescentAdult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Child
Child, Preschool
Cytological Techniques
Female
Flow Cytometry
Hematologic Neoplasms
Humans
Male
Meningeal Neoplasms
Middle Aged
Predictive Value of Tests
Reproducibility of Results
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult
