Cytopathology is a branch of science that studies and diagnoses diseases at the cellular level. Cytopathologic tests are called smear tests as the samples may be smeared across a glass microscope slide for subsequent staining and microscopic examination. Commonly used samples are free cells or tissue fragments. It is usually used in the diagnosis of cancer, certain infectious diseases and other inflammatory conditions, investigate thyroid lesions, diseases involving sterile body cavities (peritoneal, pleural, and cerebrospinal), and a wide range of other body sites. There are two methods for collecting cells for cytopathologic analysis: Exfoliative Cytology and intervention cytology. Exfoliative Cytology- here cells are collected once they have been either spontaneously shed by the body or manually scraped/brushed off of a surface in the body ("mechanical exfoliation"). Intervention cytology- in this method, the cells are collected from the lesions or cell masses using syringes by the application of negative pressure i.e., suction in order to increase the yield. Cytopathologic techniques are used in the examination of virtually all body organs and tissues
Last date updated on April, 2024