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Specimen Collection

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Cytopreparation

Part of the book series: Essentials in Cytopathology ((EICP,volume 12))

Abstract

Specimen collection is sampling cells from a body site for submission to the cytopreparatory laboratory for processing. Specimen is rooted in the Latin specimen meaning “indication, mark, example, sign, and evidence,” from specere “to look at,” meaning “single thing regarded as typical of its kind” first recorded in the mid-seventeenth century.1 If any cytologic specimen is to be useful, therefore, it must be a representative (i.e., typical) of the body site sampled, whether normal or abnormal. Unlike gynecologic specimens, all nongynecologic specimen preparations are examined microscopically by a pathologist before being signed out. If a specimen does not contain cells representative of an actual underlying lesion, and is a clinically based false negative, the patient will not be harmed. The patient’s physician will continue working up the patient until a diagnosis is established and treatment is initiated.

There’s no there, there.

Gertrude Stein

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Cytological Consultant, Indianapolis, IN, USA

    Gary W. Gill BA, CT(ASCP)

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  1. Gary W. Gill BA, CT(ASCP)
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Gill, G.W. (2013). Specimen Collection. In: Cytopreparation. Essentials in Cytopathology, vol 12. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4933-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4933-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4932-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4933-1

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