1999 Volume 38 Issue 4 Pages 305-311
Objective: A membrane filter is useful for collecting cells from the cerebrospinal fluid, because the cell component content is low and cells are easily damaged. However, cell collection using a membrane filter is expensive and has other problems, and thus it is not widely used in cytodiagnosis.
Study Design: Using the membrane filter method (FIL CUP Super), we studied the rate of cell collection, cell damage under different pressure, ability of trapping small cells, and the effects on special staining and the preservation of stained preparations. In addition, we also applied this apparatus to cerebrospinal fluid samples from 13 patients.
Results: This method was excellent for collection of cells without damaging them, and is applicable to various methods of special staining. Suction pressure was related to the degree of cell damage and ability to trap small cells. When applied to cerebrospinal fluid samples, the filtered preparations provided easy diagnosis in cases which were difficult to evaluate using the conventional smear preparations.
Conclusion: This method, although expensive, should be introduced for cytodiagnosis, particularly with selective samples of low cell concentration.
