Introduction: Cytological evaluation of body fluids is an
important diagnostic technique. Cytocentrifuge has contributed
immensely to improve the diagnostic yield of the body fluids.
Cytocentrifuge requires a filter card for absorbing the cell free
fluid. This is the only consumable which needs to be purchased
from the manufacturer at a significant cost.
Aim: To compare the cell density in cytocentrifuge preparations
made from commercially available filter cards with custom
made filter cards.
Materials and Methods: This was a prospective analytical
study undertaken in department of pathology of a tertiary care
centre. A 300 GSM handmade paper with the absorbability
similar to the conventional card was obtained and fashioned to
suit the filter card slot of the cytospin. Thirty seven body fluids
were centrifuged using both conventional and custom made
filter card. The cell density was measured as number of cells
per 10 high power fields.
The median cell density was compared using Mann-Whitney U
test. The agreement between the values was analysed using
Bland Altman analysis.
Results: The median cell count per 10 High power field (HPF)
with conventional card was 386 and that with custom made
card was 408. The difference was not statistically significant (p
= 0.66). There was no significant difference in the cell density
and alteration in the morphology between the cell preparations
using both the cards.
Conclusion: Custom made filter card can be used for cytospin
cell preparations of body fluids without loss of cell density or
alteration in the cell morphology and at a very low cost.