Cytology

The medical and scientific study of cells.

Cytology refers to a branch of pathology, the medical specialty that deals with making diagnoses of diseases and conditions through the examination of tissue samples from the body.</P> Cytologic examinations may be performed on body fluids (examples are blood, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid) or on material that is aspirated (drawn out via suction into a syringe) from the body.

Cytology also can involve examinations of preparations that are scraped or washed (irrigated with a sterile solution) from specific areas of the body.

For example, a common example of diagnostic cytology is the evaluation of cervical smears (referred to as the Papanicolaou test or Pap smear).</P> In order for cytologic evaluation to be carried out, the material to be examined is spread onto glass slides and stained.

A pathologist then uses a microscope to examine the individual cells in the sample.