INTRODUCTION
Cytological examination is an integral part of the modern diagnostic system in medicine. Due to its simplicity of execution and speed of obtaining results, it helps to verify benign diseases and tumor lesions of the skin. Cytological diagnosis of basal cell skin cancer is an effective verification method of this lesion, however, in some cases it is a difficult task due to the diversity of the cytomorphological picture, the lack of standardized sampling protocols and algorithms for assessing cellular material. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common malignant skin tumor, more common in elderly patients. Diagnosis of this pathology is based on clinical and anamnestic data, dermatoscopic picture, results of morphological examination. Cytological diagnosis of BCC is an effective method of tumor verification based on cytomorphological criteria. Despite this, cytological examination has a number of limitations, which sometimes does not allow to interpret the picture correctly.
OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the effectiveness of cytological examination in the diagnosis of BCC.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A retrospective analysis of the results of cytological examination of the material from 56 patients with BCC and suspected of it, examined in the Kommunarka Moscow Multidisciplinary Clinical Center for 2021, was carried out.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Out of 56 cases, 47 had a complete coincidence of the results of cytological and histological studies (BCC), in 6 cases the tumor pathology was histologically verified, but not BCC, in 3 cases histologically — without signs of malignant tumor growth. The coincidence of the results of cytology and histology is 84%. The identified cytomorphological criteria were grouped, their correlation with the literature data was established.
CONCLUSION
Cytological examination in our work has shown high efficiency in the diagnosis of BCC. In the cytological diagnosis of BCC, it is important to take into account the cytomorphological features and limitations of the method, to use a multidisciplinary approach. Correlation of the results of cytological and histological studies increases the effectiveness of the diagnosis of BCC.
