Abstract
Objective : To determine morphological changes in exfoliated epithelial cells in bile specimens, we morphometrically studied the degree of nuclear and cytoplasmic changes and the nuclear-cytoplasmic (N/C) ratio.
Study Design : Five cases of gallbladder resection—three adenocarcinoma, one cholecystolithiasis, and one normal gallbladder—with scraped and bile specimens were studied. The nuclear and cytoplasmic and N/C ratio of epithelial cells were estimated by pointcounting. The Tukey-Kramer test was used in statistical analysis.
Results : Nuclear and cytoplasmic exfoliated neoplastic and nonneoplastic epithelial cells in bile specimens were significantly lower than in histological and scraped specimens, and the N/C ratio was significantly higher. Results were confirmed statistically.
Conclusion : Exfoliated neoplastic and nonneoplastic epithelial cells in bile decrease nuclear and cytoplasmic areas but increase the N/C ratio in contrast to those in histological and scraped cytological specimens. These results should be kept in mind for accurate daily bile cytology diagnosis.
