Comparison of image (CAS 200) and flow cytometry determined DNA content of paraffin-embedded Hodgkin's disease tissue.

To assess the reliability of DNA estimation using image cytometry, deparaffinized lymph nodes from 70 patients with Hodgkin's disease were examined and the results obtained were compared with those from flow cytometry. Image analysis without discriminating between the various cell types, as found in Hodgkin's disease, revealed no separate aneuploid peak. Selecting on morphologically defined nuclear types DNA aneuploidy was detected in 20% of the cases (14/70). The aneuploid populations were limited to the population of nuclei defined as Reed-Sternberg (RS)-like or medium-sized lymphocytes. Benign lymph nodes DNA aneuploidy was not found in any of the controls. Comparison of DNA histograms obtained by image and flow cytometry showed aneuploid peaks using image cytometry in 4 of 30 diploid and 10 of 40 aneuploid flow histograms. In conclusion, image analysis using the CAS 200 system as compared to flow cytometry is more time-consuming and less sensitive to assess ploidy status, although it may provide extra information in some selected cases. Evidence is obtained that DNA aneuploidy in Hodgkin's disease is preferentially expressed by cells with the RS/H-like and medium-sized lymphocyte morphology.