[Cytologic and histologic methods in the diagnosis of conjunctival lesions: comparative study].

PURPOSE To evaluate both the efficacy and reliability of the cytologic method in the diagnosis of conjunctival lesions and compare it with the histologic examination. METHODS A prospective study on 31 conjunctival lesions was performed. Samples were obtained with a Kimura spatula. The lesions were, then, surgically removed and sent for histologic examination. The Papanicolaou technique was used for the cytologic examination. RESULTS The cytologic method showed high specificity (100%) and sensitivity (92.9%). The positive predictive value was 100% and the negative was 94.4%. CONCLUSIONS The simple cytologic method is effective and reliable for the diagnosis of tumoral lesions of the conjunctiva.