Practical Diagnostic Approaches in Non-Gynaecologic Cytology

This book presents rational diagnostic approaches to common areas of cytopathology, such as thyroid, lymph node and effusion cytology. It discusses differential diagnoses for each site, and describes a systematic approach to narrow down differential diagnoses in a logical manner based on cytomorphology and the judicious application of ancillary tests. Further, it introduces discriminatory panels of immunohistochemical tests, with an emphasis on patient-centred approaches with active clinicopathologic correlations. In addition, it provides practical recommendations for optimizing tissue triage for ancillary testing, in terms of both diagnostic and therapy-related testing. The book also includes sample diagnostic reports to help readers formulate appropriate comments and to aid clinicians in specific clinical scenarios, as well as test cases for readers to apply their diagnostic and specimen triage algorithms.

The book equips readers to apply logical approaches to sound cytopathology reporting in daily clinical practice, guiding them through specimen collection and triage to diagnostic workup based on morphologic and clinical features, and writing rational and clinically useful diagnostic cytology reports with a focus on clinicopathologic correlation. As such it is relevant for practising cytopathologists and pathology trainees as well as for cytologists (cytotechnologists) and other clinicians involved in cytopathology diagnostic processes.

Dr Min En Nga (FRCPath; FRCPA; FIAC) is an alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS). She was awarded fellowships by the Royal College of Pathologists, of both the United Kingdom and Australasia, as well as the International Academy of Cytology. She has been practicing anatomical pathology at the National University Hospital’s Department of Pathology since 2005, and was the Director of the cytology section and quality assurance program in cytology. She is also an Associate Professor at the Department of Pathology at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. She is currently a council member of the Singapore Society of Cytology and editor of its CytoPage newsletter. Dr Nga received the Singapore Society of Pathology’s Becton Dickinson Research Award in 2012, as well as numerous NUS teaching excellence awards, and was included in the NUS Teaching Excellence Honour Roll in 2016. In 2019, she was selected by the NUS as the recipient of the university’s Outstanding Educator Award. She is currently the supervisor of postgraduate cytology training in NUH and a frequent invited speaker at cytopathology workshops, including the Australian Society of Cytology Annual Scientific Meetings; International Academy of Pathology Cytology Companion Meetings. She also addressed the Indian Academy of Cytologists in November 2017.