Dual Sampling of the Endocervix and Its Impact on AutoCyte Prep Endocervical Adequacy

Abstract

Only a few blastic natural killer (NK) cell leukemias and lymphomas have been reported. As such, the clinicopathologic spectrum of this disease is incompletely understood. We report 7 cases of blastic NK cell lymphoma/leukemia. All patients were men, 5 white and 2 Arab American. All cases exhibited blastic morphologic features and were CD3- and CD56+ with germline T-cell receptor genes. Five cases were CD4+ and involved the skin. Both CD4- cases never involved the skin. Other markers of mature NK cells such as CD16, CD57, and TIA-1 were expressed infrequently. Three cases were CD33+. One CD33+ case had a clonal rearrangement of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene. Skin and lymph nodes were involved most often, with frequent evolution to a leukemic phase. Initial responses to therapy were achieved in most patients, but the tumors invariably recurred.

Additional collection devices used in conjunction with the SurePath Liquid-Based Pap Test broom device do not enhance diagnostic utility

“…We have previously shown that use of the Surgipath C-E brush (Richmond, IL) in combination with the SurePath broom did not increase EC recovery in women undergoing a SurePath Pap [6]. This previous study, however, did not investigate whether use of an EC brush enhanced SurePath Pap diagnostic utility.…”

“…We have previously shown that the majority (88%) of SurePath Pap limited by diagnoses are due to lack of an EC component [6]. To overcome this problem, some clinicians have turned to using additional devices (usually an EC brush) in combination with the SurePath broom to attempt to increase the EC yield.…”

“…It has been reported, that the use of the broom-type device for both the ThinPrep Pap Test and the SurePath Pap appears to under-sample the endocervix resulting in increased limited-bys due to lack of an EC component [4,5]. We have not observed this phenomenon and have previously shown that the SurePath Pap reduced by 33% the number of limited-by cases due to lack of an EC component when compared to the traditional Pap test when the SurePath Pap utilized the SurePath broom and the traditional Pap test utilized the spatula + EC brush combination [6]. In that failure to sample the endocervix can coincide with failure to sample the transformation zone we sought, in this study, to determine if additional sampling devices used in conjunction with the SurePath broom improved SurePath Pap EC recovery and/or increased SurePath Pap diagnostic effectiveness.…”

Comparison of Two Preparation Methods for Endocervical Evaluation

“…The published data have shown that many of these issues of smear quality are improved with the utilization of liquid-based preparation. 7,8,11,13,17,18 In the present study, SurePath slides were made using residual cellular material from an endocervical brush gathered during colposcopic examination and biopsy were compared with conventional smears made initially. Overall cellularity was found to be similar, although SurePath specimens were processed following the making of the conventional smear.…”

“…[9][10][11][12]14 Most studies have utilized endocervical broom type specimens; however, studies do show that this performance improvement also extends to specimens collected with the endocervical brush. 17 In the present study, the performance of the SurePath method for the preparation of endocervical cytology specimens was evaluated in comparison to conventionally prepared slides and follow-up histologic studies. Women who were referred for colposcopic examination and biopsy because of an abnormal result on a previous cervical smear were assessed in a split sample study.…”