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Introduction: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common primary malignancy of the liver but is rare in the paediatric age group; thus, it may be misdiagnosed as the more common tumour, hepatoblastoma. Management varies in both these tumours, and pathological diagnosis thus plays an important role for definitive therapy. Only a few case reports available in the literature have described the cytological characteristics of paediatric HCC. The present study was thus planned to evaluate the cytomorphological features of paediatric HCC. Methods: Cases diagnosed with HCC on ultrasound‐guided fine needle aspiration cytology over a period of 14 years were retrieved. The cases were evaluated for detailed cytological features including cellularity, architecture, sinusoidal wrapping, trabecular thickness, necrosis, anisonucleosis, chromatin, nucleoli, nuclear contours, bi‐ or multinucleation, intranuclear and intracytoplasmic inclusions, naked nuclei, extra‐medullary haematopoiesis, monomorphism, and nuclear overlapping. Results: Twelve cases of HCC were included in the study. The median age at diagnosis was 10 years. Serum alpha‐fetoprotein level was raised in most of them. Five of the 12 cases were characterised as moderately differentiated, three as poorly differentiated, two as well differentiated, and two as the fibrolamellar type of HCC. Cytohistological correlation was performed in seven cases. Conclusions: Ultrasound‐guided fine needle aspiration serves as a useful tool to diagnose paediatric HCC and differentiate it from other primary hepatic malignancies, especially hepatoblastoma which closely mimics HCC in this age group, as serum alpha protein levels and imaging findings are unable to distinguish these two tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Liquid-based cytology (LBC), initially developed for screening gynecologic specimens, is now being used in nongynecologic aspiration and exfoliative specimens. In this study, the diagnostic yield and utility of thin-prep (TP) was compared with conventional preparations to ascertain its utility in improving the diagnosis of respiratory lesions. Materials and Methods: Bronchial washings (BW) and transbronchial needle aspirates (TBNA) (bronchoscopy/endobronchial ultrasound-guided) from 70 consecutive patients of mediastinal masses and endo/peribronchial growths were included. The diagnostic yields of both conventional smears and thin-prep were compared. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) was performed on direct/cytospin smears of TBNA/BW and TP slides when the tumor could not be subtyped by morphology. Histopathologic correlation was done. Results: Although well-preserved morphological features and cleaner background in TP allowed accurate diagnosis of malignancies, diagnostic yield was comparable to conventional preparations. Immunocytochemistry was successfully employed on TP smears which helped in accurate subtyping of the tumors. Few shortcomings of TP smears were uneven distribution of cells, thick cell clusters, and inadequate cellularity. Conclusion: Liquid-based TP preparation is an effective diagnostic tool for respiratory tract cytology, however, results are comparable to conventional smears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]