Efficacy of Rehydrated Air Dried Smears Over Wet Fixed Smears in Cervical Cytology

Dr. Naisna Nasar, Dr. Supriya .P, Dr. M. H. Shariff, Dr. Sadiq Unnisa .A

Abstract: Background: Pap smear is the simplest and excellent screening method for the early diagnosis of cervical carcinoma. In Pap smear preparation, wet fixation in 95% ethanol is usually used as a standard fixation method. Improper fixation and air - drying artifact can result in unsatisfactory specimens for interpretation. Rehydration of air - dried smears can be adopted, as an alternative to conventional wet fixation to overcome these problems, especially in rural screening programmes. Objectives: To compare the efficacy of rehydrated air - dried smears over wet fixed smears in cervical cytology. Methodology: A prospective comparative study was done for a period of three months. Pap smears were collected from 112 patients, two slides were fixed in ethanol and one slide was air - dried and rehydrated. The smears were then evaluated for eight cytomorphological parameters. Results: Air dried smears were found to be significantly better compared to wet fixed smears with regard to improved cellularity, less cytolysis, less air - drying artifacts and rendering clearer background by lysing RBCs. Air dried smears also showed better cytoplasmic staining, distinct cellular and nuclear border and crisp chromatin which were statistically significant. Conclusion: Rehydration of air dried smears is simple and convenient method that can be adopted in resource limited settings because of many advantages compared to the conventional wet fixation method.

Keywords: Cervical Pap smear, Air - drying artifact, Rehydrated air - dried smear

How to Cite?: Dr. Naisna Nasar, Dr. Supriya .P, Dr. M. H. Shariff, Dr. Sadiq Unnisa .A, "Efficacy of Rehydrated Air Dried Smears Over Wet Fixed Smears in Cervical Cytology", Volume 12 Issue 11, November 2023, International Journal of Science and Research (IJSR), Pages: 673-675, https://www.ijsr.net/getabstract.php?paperid=MR231107224801, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.21275/MR231107224801