A Glimpse into the Experience of Intraoperative Squash Smear Cytology of Pediatric Space-Occupying Lesions of the Central Nervous System: A Study from North Indian Tertiary Care Center.
- 1Department of Pathology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- 2Department of Neurosurgery, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abstract
Background
Squash smear cytology (SSC) has an established role in the intraoperative diagnosis (IOD) of space-occupying lesions (SOLs) of the central nervous system (CNS). In the pediatric population, an accurate diagnosis during surgery is crucial for deciding the extent of resection (i.e., gross total, near total, or subtotal resection).Aim
Our study aimed to analyze the spectrum of CNS lesions undergoing intraoperative SSC in our tertiary care institute and to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of SSC in correctly diagnosing CNS SOLs in the pediatric age group.Materials and methods
This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary care center in northern India and comprised a total of 77 cases from the pediatric age group who underwent intraoperative SSC between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2024. The cytological diagnosis was correlated with the histopathological diagnosis, which was taken as the gold standard. Diagnostic efficacy metrics were calculated.Results
The diagnostic accuracy of SSC was calculated to be 81.42%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 75%, 84%, 65.2%, and 89.4%, respectively.Conclusion
The spectrum of CNS lesions in the pediatric age group differs from that in adults. Although the sensitivity and specificity of SSC in pediatric tumors are lower than in adults, it remains an important tool for IOD that guides both the intra- and postoperative management of patients.
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BibTeX
@article{singh2026glimpse,
title = {{A Glimpse into the Experience of Intraoperative Squash Smear Cytology of Pediatric Space-Occupying Lesions of the Central Nervous System: A Study from North Indian Tertiary Care Center.}},
author = {Anshima Singh and Ram Nawal Rao and Ankita Singh and Pawan Kumar Verma},
journal = {Journal of cytology},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.4103/joc.joc_162_25},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42899056},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Glimpse into the Experience of Intraoperative Squash Smear Cytology of Pediatric Space-Occupying Lesions of the Central Nervous System: A Study from North Indian Tertiary Care Center.
AU - Anshima Singh
AU - Ram Nawal Rao
AU - Ankita Singh
AU - Pawan Kumar Verma
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - Journal of cytology
DO - 10.4103/joc.joc_162_25
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42899056
AB - Background Squash smear cytology (SSC) has an established role in the intraoperative diagnosis (IOD) of space-occupying lesions (SOLs) of the central nervous system (CNS). In the pediatric population, an accurate diagnosis during surgery is crucial for deciding the extent of resection (i.e., gross total, near total, or subtotal resection).Aim Our study aimed to analyze the spectrum of CNS lesions undergoing intraoperative SSC in our tertiary care institute and to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of SSC in correctly diagnosing CNS SOLs in the pediatric age group.Materials and methods This retrospective study was conducted in a tertiary care center in northern India and comprised a total of 77 cases from the pediatric age group who underwent intraoperative SSC between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2024. The cytological diagnosis was correlated with the histopathological diagnosis, which was taken as the gold standard. Diagnostic efficacy metrics were calculated.Results The diagnostic accuracy of SSC was calculated to be 81.42%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 75%, 84%, 65.2%, and 89.4%, respectively.Conclusion The spectrum of CNS lesions in the pediatric age group differs from that in adults. Although the sensitivity and specificity of SSC in pediatric tumors are lower than in adults, it remains an important tool for IOD that guides both the intra- and postoperative management of patients.
SN - 0970-9371
SN - 0974-5165
ER -