We investigated the feasibility of telecytology for rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) of cytological specimens. During a six-month study, 385 consecutive adult patients underwent image-guided fine needle aspiration biopsies of the lung or transbronchial needle aspirations of mediastinal lymph nodes. Direct smears were immediately wet-fixed and a cytopathologist or a trained cytotechnologist evaluated specimen adequacy using a telecytology system. Specimens were reported as adequate or inadequate. A total of 238 specimens (62%) were diagnosed without rapid assessment. The percentage of non-representative samples in the group without rapid evaluation was 42%. In the group of 147 specimens (38%) which underwent rapid evaluation, 48 (33%) were reported as inadequate and 99 (67%) as adequate. Only 22% of final diagnoses were non-representative, including samples which were assessed as inadequate by rapid evaluation. In three patients of 32, where the obtained material was recognized as adequate, final diagnoses were non-representative. Rapid evaluation with the use of telecytology improves the diagnostic yield of guided fine-needle aspiration biopsies by decreasing the percentage of non-representative specimens.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.