Detection of microscopic peritoneal spread in gynecological cancers using diaphragmatic scrapings adds no benefit to standard staging procedures

Introduction: Cytological diaphragmatic smears (DS), are not routinely taken in abdominal staging of gynecological malignancies. There is hardly any data comparing this technique to other routine measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the additional diagnostic benefit of DS compared to peritoneal washing (PW) and peritoneal biopsies (PB). Material and Methods: We retrospectively studied 43 patients where a laparotomy for suspected gynecological cancer was performed and DS taken. The DS samples were obtained always by the same surgeon using a cervical cytobrush. Results: 41 carcinomas were analyzed. Of t…