A Retrospective Study of Ultrasound Characteristics and Macroscopic Findings in Confirmed Malignant Pleural Effusion.

Background: A definitive diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is reached by cytological or histological assessment, but thorough analysis of the ultrasound features of the effusion as well as pleural thickening or nodularity can also be of significant diagnostic help.

Objective: To assess the relationship of specific ultrasound characterisctics and macroscopic features of confirmed malignant pleural effusion, thus increasing the diagnostic potential of thoracic ultrasound.

Methods: The findings of thoracic ultrasonography performed prior to initial thoracentesis in 104 patients with subsequently confirmed malignant pleural effusion were analyzed with regard to the macroscopic features of the pleural effusion.

Fine needle aspiration cytology of chondroid syringoma.

Chondroid syringoma (CS) is a rare, benign, appendageal tumor with diagnostic feature of myxochondroid stroma supporting eccrine and apocrine epithelial structures. The usual presentation is a painless, slowly growing mass, typically located in the head and neck region. It usually affects middle-aged and older male patients.

Fine-needle aspiration cytology of apocrine hidradenoma.

An apocrine hidradenoma is a benign adnexal neoplasm, usually covered by intact skin, but may show superficial ulceration and serous discharge. This feature is raising the possibility of malignancy as it was in our case of macroscopically suspicious tumour. We described cytomorphologic features of cutaneous nodule that might be a lead to the cytologic diagnosis of hidradenoma, but primary or secondary malignant tumour has been ruled out first.

Flow cytometric analysis of deep-seated lymph nodes.

Flow cytometry (FC) immunophenotyping is an important tool in the evaluation of lymphadenopathy and is widely used in the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs) on fine-needle aspirates of lymph nodes and extranodal sites. Because at least 80% of NHLs are of B-cell type, detection of immunoglobulin (Ig) light-chain-restriction is the most commonly used method for confirmation of monoclonality. The aim of our study was to evaluate usefulness of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) for FC analysis from deep-seated lymph nodes and to compare results of FC clonality analysis to cytomorphologic diagnosis of sampled lymph nodes.

The importance of urgent cytological examination of synovial fluids in differentiation inflammatory and non-inflammatory joint diseases.

The aim of this study was to imply the possibilities of the urgent cytological examination of synovial fluids in differential diagnosis of arthropathies and to motivate the clinicians to use this method. It gave valuable information particularly with respect to differentiate the inflammatory and non-inflammatory joint diseases. This study included 115 synovial fluids obtained by fine needle aspiration (FNA) of the swollen knee from the patients in the period between 2003 and 2008.