Yale Cytology

Cytology

The Cytopathology division of the Department of Pathology at the Yale-New Haven Hospital provides preparatory and diagnostic services for all fluid, smear and aspiration specimens.

The goals of the service include:

To maintain excellence in specimen preparation and diagnostic accuracy
To provide the highest quality consultative services to our clinical colleagues, both within our institution and elsewhere
To train residents, fellows, medical students and cytotechnologists in diagnostic cytopathology
To support and incorporate advanced diagnostic techniques to improve diagnostic accuracy
To pioneer new molecular techniques to increase the amount of information obtained from the minimal amounts of tissues received in the routine specimen

Cytopathology Service

The Cytopathology division of the Department of Pathology at the Yale-New Haven Hospital provides preparatory and diagnostic services for all fluid, smear and aspiration specimens. The goals of the service include:

To maintain excellence in specimen preparation and diagnostic accuracy
To provide the highest quality consultative services to our clinical colleagues, both within our institution and elsewhere
To train residents, fellows, medical students and cytotechnologists in diagnostic cytopathology
To support and incorporate advanced diagnostic techniques to improve diagnostic accuracy
To pioneer new molecular techniques to increase the amount of information obtained from the minimal amounts of tissues received in the routine specimen

The service processes and reads about 70,500 specimens per year. Of these, around 3,000 are non-GYN specimens, including about 1,300 fine needle aspirations (FNAs). The service also provides pathologist-performed FNA service at the request of physicians within the hospital. On-site adequacy assessments are also provided by cytotechnologists in both the ultrasound and CT suites. The division also provides case presentations for clinical conferences and teaching conferences for our residents.

Services and Expertise

We provide preparatory and diagnostic services for all fluid, smear and aspiration specimens. Early detection of cervical cancer, HPV testing, squamous cell carcinoma, endometrial adenocarcinoma, ovarian adenocarcinoma; bronchial lavages, pneumocystis carinii, aspergillus; fine needle aspirations, lung, liver, thyroid, pancreas; body fluid cytology, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial; mesothelioma, metastatic adenocarcinoma.