Diagnostic Cell Pathology in Lymph Nodes Diseases

The investigation is based on the cytological findings in imprints, stained by the modified Papanicolaou E.A. 50 method, of 190 lymph nodes, of which 10 were normal 60 with benign diseases, 58 with malignant lymphomas and 62 with metastases. The cytological data were controlled by and correlated with histological sections. Touch preparations of lymph nodes do not present technical difficulties, are rapidly prepared and are always satisfactory. Cytological details are much better preserved and more recognizable than in histological sections but little information on lymph node organization is yielded. Imprints do not replace tissue diagnoses or even frozen sections, but under certain circumstances they may supply sufficient data for immediate diagnostic purposes, such as findings of metastatic malignant tumor cells or of Reed-Sternberg cells and their variants in lymph nodes during laparatomy for the staging of Hodgkin's disease. In addition to their supplementary diagnostic as well as teaching value, touch preparations allow minute caryological observations in malignant lymphomas. Peculiar basic nuclear structures in both well and poorly differentiated lymphocytic lymphomas and two different nuclear types in histiocytic lymphoma are described. The variations and frequency of several cell types (reticulum cells, lymphocytes, histiocytes, Reed-Sternberg and lacunar cells) in Hodgkin's disease are described and correlated with the histologic type.