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Airborne fungal spores, pollen grains, and vegetable cells in routine Papanicolaou smears
Author(s) -
MartínezGirón Rafael,
RibasBarceló Andrés,
GarcíaMiralles M Teresa,
LópezCabanilles Dolores,
TamargoPeláez M Luisa,
TorreBayón Concepción,
FernándezÁlvarez Lorena
Publication year - 2004
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/dc.10395
Subject(s) - spore , pollen , cladosporium , papanicolaou stain , alternaria , curvularia , botany , biology , aspergillus , medicine , cancer , genetics , cervical cancer
The objective was to demonstrate the presence of airborne fungal spores, pollen grains, and vegetable cells in smears and establish their significance. Microscopic examination was of smears stained by the Papanicolaou technique. We found several types of airborne spores ( Alternaria, Exserohilum, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Epicoccum, Curvularia , and Ascosmycete ), pollen grains ( Lilium , bullrush, Pinus, Acacia , hazelnut, and oak), and several types of vegetable cells. The existence of these structures may be due to intrinsic or to extrinsic contamination of the sample. Anemophilous fungi spores and pollen grains have been shown to possess great allergenic capacity. Pollen grains and vegetable cells may be mistaken for certain microorganisms or malignant cells. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2004;30:381–385. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.