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Pericellular lacunae in the diagnosis of metastatic carcinoma in effusions: Is this a useful sign?
Author(s) -
Thomson Thomas,
Hayes Malcolm M. M.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
diagnostic cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1097-0339
pISSN - 8755-1039
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0339(199609)15:3<193::aid-dc4>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - medicine , malignancy , pathology , metastatic carcinoma , carcinoma , body cavity , anatomy
The presence of pericellular lacunae has been cited as a useful criterion in distinguishing between benign and malignant effusions from body cavities. This study assessed the presence of pericellular lacunae in 75 specimens of malignant and 38 specimens of benign effusions. In a large number of cases, lacunae could not be assessed reliably because of technical and artifactual reasons. Pericellular lacunae were detected around the majority of the cell clusters in only 4 of the malignant and 2 of the benign cases. In our material, peri‐cellular lacunae were not a useful criterion for the diagnosis of malignancy in body cavity fluids. Diagn Cytopathol 1996;15:193–196. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.