Evaluation of the Relevence of Touch Imprint Cytology in the diagnosis of Neoplastic lesions of Breast

Abstract

Imprint cytology (IC) is an easy, quick and inexpensive diagnostic method. IC is an accurate and simple intra operative method for diagnosing breast lesions and also used for various lesions in the body. The present study aims at comparing the touch IC with histological diagnosis, evaluating the accuracy of IC in diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions of breast and to compare the validity of touch IC with Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). This was a descriptive study done in collaboration with Department of General Surgery at Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) hospital, Narketpally. Fifty cases of breast lesions were evaluated, comprising of benign and malignant lesions. Relevant clinical data were recorded in a proforma. Touch imprints were prepared from all the lesions and stained with rapid Haematoxylin and Eosin (Hand E) and routine Hand E stains. The imprints were subsequently compared with cytology and histopathology examinations. We observed better accuracy in IC (96%) than FNAC (89%) in correlation with histopathology, better sensitivity in IC (97.3%) than FNAC (93.3%) in correlated well with histopathology, better specificity in IC (92.3%) than FNAC (50%) in correlation with histopathology, Predictive value-97.29%, Negative predictive value-92.3%. All the imprints were well corroborated with FNAC and histopathological diagnosis. Thus, IC provides initial diagnosis to surgeons for immediate clinical and surgical intervention.