2018 Volume 67 Issue 5 Pages 643-651
There are few reports on the influence of portions observed in wedge smear specimens prepared from body cavity fluid on cell classification. Therefore, we investigated this influence using the following methods toward the standardization of the classification of cells in body cavity fluid. We studied 100 specimens (66 pleural effusion and 34 ascites specimens), and classified 100 nucleated cells from 5 portions observed (① and ② edge portions, ③ center portion, and ④ and ⑤ latter portions of wedge smear specimens) prepared from body cavity fluid into lymphocytes, polymorphous nuclear leukocytes, and other cells, and compared the appearance ratios of these three types of cells with each other. We also compared the correlation of the appearance ratio between the wedge smear and the Fuchs Rosenthal chamber. The highest median of lymphocytes was in observation portion ② and significantly different from those in ③, ④, and ⑤ (p < 0.01). The highest median of other cells was in portion ⑤ and significantly different from those in ①, ②, and ③ (p < 0.01). The highest correlation coefficient between the wedge smear and the Fuchs Rosenthal chamber was the average of portions ①, ②, ③, ④, and ⑤. In the wedge smear specimens, generally, larger cells are likely seen at the latter portion of the smear, but smaller cells are seen at the center portion. The classification bias disappeared by calculating the average value following observation at the 5 different portions. Thus, we proposed the above-mentioned observation method for the standardization of classification of cells in body cavity fluid.
