Cytology

Question 1

Name the different sampling techniques

Answer 1

Fine needle aspirate

Impression smear

Tape strip

Swab

Question 2

What is a fine needle aspirate useful for analysing?

Answer 2

Masses

Tissues

Sarcomas

Spleen

Lymph nodes

Question 3

What are the advantages to performing a fine needle aspirate?

Answer 3

Quick and cheap to perform

Often requires no sedation for superficial tissues

Can be done with/without ultrasound guidance

Question 4

What kinds of fine needle aspirate methods are there?

Answer 4

With aspiration

Without aspiration

Question 5

Why would you use different methods for a fine needle aspirate?

Answer 5

With aspiration is ideal for tissues with more structure to them e.g. soft tissue sarcomas

Without aspiration is better used for vascular or soft tissues e.g. spleen, lymph nodes

Question 6

What are impression smears useful for?

Answer 6

Ulcerated masses

Skin pathologies

Samples from excised masses

Question 7

What would you use a tape strip to sample?

Answer 7

Most often for skin cytology

Especially for infectious agents such as Malassezia pachydermatis

Question 8

What is the recommended technique for performing a swab sample?

Answer 8

First moisten swab with saline

Swab area/lesion/tissue

Use gentle rolling motion to apply to microscope slide

Question 9

What should be avoided when performing a swab sample?

Answer 9

Do not rub collected cells onto microscope slide as this is likely to rupture them

Question 10

What could a swab sample be used for?

Answer 10

Skin cytology including ears

Nasal

Ocular/conjunctival

Vaginal

Fistulae

Question 11

What could be potentially seen when viewing blood microscopically?

Answer 11

Anisocytosis

Polychromasia

Monocytes

Neutrophils

Lymphocytes

Question 12

Which sampling method is most appropriate for obtaining small samples of cells from inside organs or masses?

Answer 12

Fine needle aspirate

Question 13

When is a fine needle aspirate considered inappropriate?

Answer 13

In patients with a coagulation defect or from highly vascular masses

Question 14

When is a fine needle biopsy most appropriate?

Answer 14

For highly exfoliative tissues or those that will not require aspiration

Question 15

When is a fine needle aspirate biopsy most appropriate?

Answer 15

For tissues that don’t exfoliate well e.g. muscle and spindle cell masses

Question 16

Which technique might you use to sample ulcerated masses, burst pustules or for obtaining samples from the cut surface of a mass?

Answer 16

Impression technique

Question 17

What is the recommendation for staining samples taken from a greasy area such as the ear?

Answer 17

It helps to gently heat-fix the slide by warming its underside with a hairdryer/radiator

Question 18

How should samples be sent off to a laboratory?

Answer 18

Slides should be unstained, labelled with patient name, number and date and packaged into a slide carrier to prevent damage

Question 19

Which samples should be packaged separately and why?

Answer 19

Cytological samples should be kept separate from histopathological samples to prevent the fixing formalin fumes from destroying the cytology

Question 20

What tissue is this?

Answer 20

Lymph node

Question 21

What kind of tissue is this?

Answer 21

Blood

Question 22

What sort of tissue is stained in this slide?

Answer 22

Liver

Question 23

What sort of tissue has been fixed here?

Answer 23

Salivary gland

Question 24

What tissue has been stained here?

Answer 24

Spleen

Question 25

What does this image show?

Answer 25

Urine crystals

Question 26

What considerations would be made when studying a urine sample microscopically?

Answer 26

Presence of CaOx monohydrate crystals

epithelial cells

leucocytes

RBCs

Question 27

What size needle is used for performing a fine needle/aspirate biopsy?

Answer 27

22G