Role of Cytology and Cytoblock in Diagnosis of Malignant Pleural Effusions

Abstract

Introduction. Pleural effusion is a common compli-cation of malignant diseases and its precise diagnosis is an important factor for staging and optimizing the treatment of a patient. The aim of this study was to de-termine the diagnostic value of cytology and cytoblock in the detection of malignant pleural effusion in patients with pulmonary and extra-pulmonary neoplasms. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study from January 2022 to March 2023 with retrospective approach. We included 92 patients with malignant diseases re-ferred to our Clinic of Pulmonology for diagnosis of their new-onset pleural effusion. We analyzed their medical history, pathohistology of the primary tumor and cytology results from cytospin and cytoblock pre-paration from their pleural effusions samples Results. Of the 92 included patients, positive cytology (classification group IV and V) was obtained in 31 (33.69%), negative (group I and II) in 57 (61.95%) and group III in 4 patients (4.34%). Positive cytology was obtained in 17 patients (54.83%) with pulmonary neo-plasms, 11(35.48%) with extra-pulmonary neoplasms and 3(9.67%) neoplasms with undefined etiology. Com-paration of the results from cytoblock and cytospin preparations showed that the diagnostic yield of cy-toblock was greater that cytospin preparation. The results from cytoblock were compatible with the pathohistology result from the primary neoplasm in 88.46% of patients. Conclusion. Cytology and cytoblock obtained from pleural effusion could be valid diagnostic procedures, especially in patients with advanced malignant disease who are not candidates for more invasive diagnostic procedures.