Imprint Cytology - A Primary Diagnostic Tool to Bone Marrow Pathology

Savitri Singh, Jyotsna Madan, Devajit Nath, Nita Radha Krishnan, Neema Tiwari 1Associate Professor, 2Professor, 3Assistant Professor, 5Senior Resident, Dept.of Pathology, Super Specialty Pediatric Hospital and Post Graduate Teaching Institute, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. 4Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pediatric Hemato-Oncology, Super Specialty Pediatric Hospital and Post Graduate Teaching Institute, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2454.8642.201902 The bone marrow is generally considered the fourth largest organ in the human body. In pediatric age group (up to 17 years) disease diversity and presentation is unique and that necessitates bone marrow examination (aspiration/ biopsy/ imprints. Imprint cytology gives excellent morphology and quick diagnosis and these procedures are well tolerated by patients. A pathologist faces many situations where either the aspirate is hemodiluted or it’s a dry tap. Dry taps can be due to marrow fibrosis or when marrow is packed with blasts. Here imprint cytology can be of an early help. We present a case in brief where the imprint helped in early diagnosis. A one-year old female presented with complaints of fever for 1 month. In this case the aspirate was hemodiluted and inconclusive while the biopsy reporting would have taken time and due to patient being critical a quick report was needed to start clinical management at its earliest. Here imprint cytology saved the time and helped the pathologist to give the clinician a diagnosis of acute leukemia. Hence we discuss the importance of imprint cytology in early and quick diagnosis specially where aspiration is non contributory.