Cytology II: Inflammation vs Neoplasia Flashcards
T/F: Samples need to be rapidly air dried after collecting, then they should be fixed with methanol
True! Wave around or heat source for drying, then do staining set
Three most common stains:
Romanowsky stains (3)
Why are they most common? (3)
- Diff-Quick
- Wrights
- Tri Chrome
Why?
- Good cytoplasm & organism staining
- Good general evaluation
- Quick, easy, & inexpensive staining method
Reasons to use New Methylene Blue (3)
- Superior nuclear detail
- Doesn’t stain cytoplasm or RBCs
- Stains RNA
When shipping samples… (3)
- Label samples!! Sample should be completely dried
- Do not place unfixed slides in bag with formalin specimen
- All forms filled out completely including patient history
Inflammation vs Neoplasia
- Inflammation:
- Infectious
- Allergic
- Irritant/toxin - Neoplasia:
- Malignant (cancer)
- Benign
When evaluating slides, begin at a ___ power. Find an area where ___ cells can be evaluated. Evaluate clusters of tissue cells at ___ power
- Low
- Individual
- High
Identifying inflammation (7)
- Neutrophils are present
- Macrophages are present
- Chronic inflammation - Organisms present
- Organisms inside of WBC
- Eosinophils with allergic responses
- Hypersegmented neutrophils
- Non-toxic environment - Neutrophil necrosis
- Cell death (loss of cytoplasm membrane, vacuoles, blue-gray cytoplasm)
- Toxic environment
- Bacteria present (possibly)
Benign cells will all look the ___.
Features: (4)
- Same
- Shape
- Light colors
- Nucleus small
- Size
Malignant Tumors (4)
- Alien cells for tissue
- Fragile cells
- High nucleus: cytoplasm
- Large, abnormal nuclei
Malignant tumors with large, abnormal nuclei can look like… (4)
- Mitotic figures
- Extreme variation in size
- Variation in shape
- Multiple nucleoli
Pleomorphism definition
Where do we see this?
Variability in the size and shape of the same cell type.
Often seen in malignant tumors
What is this?
Mitotic figures
If there are more than one on a slide, can indicate malignancy
- Large or irregular nucleoli shape
- Multinucleation
- Anisokaryosis
- High nuclear to cytoplasmic ratio
- Pleomorphism
- Nuclear molding
- Mitotic figures
Three basic tissue types and their characteristics:
- Round cells
- Discrete, individual round cells
- ie: blood cells, lymphocytes - Epithelial cells
- Occur in clusters, round to oval in shape
- ie: glandular tissue, skin - Mesenchymal cells
- Spindle cells
- ie: connective tissue
Tumor types (2)
- Epithelial cells
- Malignant
- Carcinoma - Mesenchymal
- Malignant
- Sarcoma
Identify which is malignant and benign
Identify which is benign and which is malignant
Normal lymphnode vs reactive lymphnode
Normal:
- 90% small lymphocytes (about the size of a RBC)
Reactive:
- Neutrophils
- Plasma cells: lymphocytes making antibodies, eccentric nucleus
What is this?
Lymphoma
75% or more large lymphocytes or blasts
What is this?
Mast cell tumor
- Contains characteristic of histamine granules
Inflammation
- Mature neutrophils
- Macrophages
- Some bacteria present
Tumor - malignant (carcinoma)
- Pleomorphism
- open chromotin
- open mitotic figure
- no neutrophils
Mast cell tumor of the skin (malignant)
- Couple eosinophils
- Big cells with round nucleus and granules
You don’t know!
It may look inflammatory, but maybe the patient has been itching or licking at it.
Malignant mammary tumor (secondary inflammation)
- Neutrophils
- Large cells:
- pleomorphism
- mult nucleoli
- open chromatin
- Varying sizes
Otic Cytology (ear canal)
How to collect sample: (3)
- Sample collect on cotton swab prior to use of cleaning solutions or medications
- Mineral oil on swab will help collect mites
- Sample eval is not a substitution for otic exam!!
- Foreign bodies
- Tumors
- Ruptured tympanic membrane (pain & hearing loss)
Otic cytology evaluates for… (5)
- Mites
- Bacteria
- Yeast
- White cells
- Tumor cells
Otic cytology
- Malassezzia
- Budding yeast
- Bumper-to-bumper crop
- Won’t tell underlying cause (could be allergies, occasionally swimming) - Bacterial
- Neutrophils
- Lots of bacteria
- Cocci & chains (bacteria)
- Squamous cells on edge (normal)
