• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.108-113
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• 2013

The study compared the cytological features of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in liquid-based preparations (LBPs) and conventional Pap (CP) smears from fine needle aspiration (FNA), and assessed the feasibility of LBP using the Cell Scan $1500^{TM}$ processor on thyroid FNA samples. Thyroid FNA samples were obtained from 883 consecutive patients. Each sample was divided into two and used for LBPs and CP smears. All were screened independently in a double-blind manner. From the 883 cases, 95 cases were diagnosed as PTC in one or both types of preparation (10.8%). PTC was diagnosed via CP smears in 83 cases (87.4%) and via LBPs in 70 cases (73.7%). However, there were differences in categorization between the paired preparations: Twelve (12) PTCs were misinterpreted in CP smears and 25 PTCs in LBPs. There was a significant discrepancy in the rate of detection of the diagnostic features, with LBPs having a lower detection rate. One (1) case (1.2%) of CP smears and 16 cases (22.9%) of LBPs were categorized as unsatisfactory/nondiagnostic in a total of the 95 PTCs. To conclude, the detection rate of the diagnostic features of PTC is lower in Cell Scan 1500TM samples than in CP smears. However, there are some cases in which a diagnosis of PTC is made in LBPs, but not in CP smears. Therefore, definitive cancer diagnosis in thyroid FNA preparations is likely to result from agreement between direct smears and Cell Scan 1500TM preparations.