Validation of a novel alcohol-free preservative solution in comparison with conventional prefixation on quality of serous body fluid smears.

Background: We describe a novel alcohol-free preservative composed of glucose, mannitol, disodium hydrogen orthophosphate, thymol, and distilled water (glucose-mannitol-disodium dihydrogen orhtophosphate-thymol [GMDT] preservative) in appropriate proportion as an alternative to alcohol prefixation (APF) of body fluids.

Objectives: To assess the cytomorphologic preservation and staining quality of serous body fluid smears generated by GMDT preservative and compare it with smears processed by standard 50% APF.

Methodology: The study comprised 151 effusion samples.