Cytological artifact is defined as an artificial structure or cellular alteration on a prepared microscopic slide as a result of an extraneous factor..
An artifact is defined as any structure or feature in the histological section, which is not normally present in the normal tissue, and it may come from outside sources.
Some artifact are easily distinguished and some are not .when it is present it may confuse with normal tissue or any pathological changes..
Cytospin preparation artifact : The centrifugal force used in cytospin preparations can result in cellular distortion, including nuclear irregularity, cellular molding (Fig.Jul 18, 2017.
These artifacts may occur during surgical removal, fixation, tissue processing, embedding and microtomy and staining and mounting procedures.
They can even lead to complete uselessness of the tissue..
Such changes are classified as “artifacts.” Artifact refers to “An artificial structure or tissue alteration on a prepared microscopic slide as a result of an extraneous factor.”[1] They are the major source of diagnostic problem..
Synthetic or tissue fibers: Lint and other synthetic fibers are common contaminants in cytologic specimens and staining solutions and can resemble fungal hyphae or parasitic worms under the microsc.
Dying and degenerated bacteria: Dying bacteria, especially those with a capsule, may swell and appear larger (Fig. 11.13a).
This may lead to confusion with fungal yeast forms.
Exposure to antibioti.
The presence of artifacts in cytological smears is important, as this finding, although sometimes accidental, may have implications on prognosis and therapy.
Thus, the purpose of this study is to give cytologist the morphological criteria required for them to differentiate certain artifacts, regularly observed in smears.
Changes related to artifacts and contaminants can mimic pathologic findings and constitute distractions in the evaluation of cytologic specimens from patients of all ages.
In particular, degenerative and artifactual changes in normal cells can result in diagnostic..
In histological and cytological terms, an artifact can be defined as a structure that is not normally present in the living tissue.
In some situations, the presence of an artifact can compromise an accurate diagnosis.
Cytological artifacts pertaining to fixation, drying, and smearing were excluded from the study.
A single blind study was conducted in which the smears were viewed by two cytologists for identification and morphological description of the contaminant using light microscope Labomed L × 400 and later these were subjected to polarizing microscopy.
