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Performing Laboratory
Billings Clinic LaboratoryMethodology
Includes slide preparation by liquid prep, cytocentrifugation, routine Papanicolaou staining, and microscopic cytologic examination.Useful for the diagnosis of primary or metastatic neoplasms; can aid in the diagnosis of nonneoplastic, infectious, or inflammatory processes.
Specimen Requirements
1. Collect 1 mL of breast fluid and place in cytology fixative. Send fresh (unfixed) specimen in addition to the required specimen, if possible. Also rinse the syringe with fixative to flush out any remaining specimen.2. Label specimen appropriately (patient’s name, history number, and whether it is from the right or left breast) on the container—not the lid.
Note: Please complete a “Reference Pathology/Non-Gynecologic Cytology Request Form” in “Request Forms” in “Special Instructions” including specimen source (left or right breast) and all pertinent clinical data (clinical symptoms, history of malignancy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and tentative diagnosis), and forward it with the specimen.
Reference Values
Descriptive diagnosis of microscopic findings are generally categorized as positive, inconclusive, or negative for malignancy.Nondiagnostic or unsatisfactory results are given when material is inadequate for a diagnostic interpretation.