Year: 2026 | Month: July-September | Volume: 11 | Issue: 3 | Pages: 1-9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijshr.20260301
Comparative Analysis of Liquid-Based Cytology and Conventional Smear Cytology in Peritoneal Washings: A Prospective Study
Shefali Gupta1, Harpal Singh2, Kanwardeep Kaur3
1Junior Resident, 2Professor, 3Associate Professor,
Department of Pathology, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, Punjab, India
Corresponding Author: Dr. Kanwardeep Kaur
ABSTRACT
Background: Peritoneal washing cytology is a critical tool for staging gynaecological and gastrointestinal malignancies. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) has emerged as a refined technique over conventional smear (CS) cytology, but its comparative performance in peritoneal washings requires systematic evaluation.
Aim: To compare the cytomorphological characteristics of peritoneal washings processed by LBC (BD SurePath™) and conventional smear cytology with respect to adequacy, cellularity, cell distribution, cytoplasmic and nuclear details, background clarity, and final diagnostic yield.
Methods: A prospective study was conducted over one and a half years at Government Medical College, Patiala, on 50 peritoneal washing samples. Each sample was simultaneously processed by both LBC (BD SurePath™) and conventional smear methods. Smears were stained with Papanicolaou (PAP), May-Grünwald Giemsa (MGG), and Haematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) stains and scored on a validated cytomorphological scoring system for distribution, cellularity, morphology, and background. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test; p < 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: LBC demonstrated significantly superior cell distribution (70% vs 40%, p < 0.001), cytoplasmic detail (80% vs 58%, p = 0.02), nuclear detail (88% vs 70%, p = 0.03), and background clarity (88% vs 2%, p < 0.001), with a significantly higher total cytological score (6.14 ± 2.54 vs 4.24 ± 2.76, p < 0.001). Conventional smear showed better sample adequacy (96% vs 84%, p = 0.04) and cellularity (50% vs 24%, p = 0.02). Both techniques showed identical final cytological diagnosis (κ = 1.000).
Conclusion: LBC offers superior smear quality in peritoneal washings, particularly in cell distribution, morphological preservation, and background clarity, while conventional smear yields better adequacy and cellularity. Both techniques are diagnostically equivalent, and their combined use may enhance cytological evaluation.
Keywords: liquid-based cytology; conventional smear; peritoneal washings; cytomorphology; BD SurePath™; gynaecological malignancy