Vessel Morphologies of the Brain in Cytological Squash Preparations Are Useful for Intraoperative Diagnosis of
High-Grade Astrocytomas.
Acta Cytol 2018;
62:223-230. [PMID:
29621779 DOI:
10.1159/000487701]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 02/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine whether intraoperative cytological evaluation of squash preparations is of benefit for differentiating high-grade from low-grade astrocytomas.
METHODS
Squash preparations of 42 astrocytomas were classified histologically according to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2007 classification system as grade II (n = 12), grade III (n = 11), and grade IV (n = 19) and were divided into 2 groups, namely a low-grade group (grade II) and a high-grade group (grades III and IV). The focus was on morphological cell and vessel characteristics, namely nuclear atypia, chromatin pattern, nuclear enlargement, variation in nuclear size, the presence of nucleoli, mitosis, tumor necrosis, cell density, multibranched vessels, and vascular dilatation, and these characteristics were compared between the low- and high-grade groups.
RESULTS
Nuclear atypia, the presence of coarse chromatin, variations in nuclear size, and cell density ≥200 per high-power field were significantly more prevalent in high- than in low-grade astrocytomas (p = 0.0407, p < 0.01, p < 0.01, and p < 0.01, respectively). Vessels with > 3 branches and a mean vessel diameter ≥20 μm were more prevalent in high- than in low-grade astrocytomas (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSION
Squash preparation cytology provides added benefit for the intraoperative identification of high-grade astrocytoma.
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