BACKGROUND:

The different modalities used for intraoperative consultation of CNS lesions are squash smear cytology, frozen sections & fluid cytology. The intraoperative diagnosis of squash cytology enables the surgeon to take decision regarding treatment. Squash technique requires small sample size, needs minimal technical equipment, is less expensive and gives better morphological detail. The present study was taken to assess the diagnostic accuracy of intraoperative squash cytology of CNS lesions.

 MATERIAL AND METHODS:

 It is a prospective study conducted for one and half year in the department of Pathology. All lesions of brain and spinal tract comprised the study group. The stain used for squash cytology was rapid haematoxylin and eosin. The squash diagnosis was compared with gold standard histopathology.

RESULTS:         

Total 96 cases were studied. Male to female ratio was 1.13:1. The overall concordance rate was 89.13% (including both complete and partial agreement cases). Good correlation was noted in diffuse astrocytoma (100%) and least correlation was noted in anaplastic oligodendroglioma (28.5%).

CONCLUSION:

Squash cytology is a rapid and simple technique for intraoperative diagnosis with high overall accuracy.