Cytology or cytopathology is the examination of cells in body fluids or tissues for diagnostic purposes. It involves looking at individual cells or clusters of cells to determine their individual or collective characteristics. It is mainly used for diagnosis or cancer screening purposes. 

Cytology is a cost effective diagnostic tool with shorter turn-around time compared to histology. It is highly informative in the right hands.

At Scanlab, we offer a wide range of cytology services, including:

1) Pap smear collection and reporting: A proven technique for screening of cervical cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in Kenya. Conventional Pap smear & Pap smear liquid based cytology (LBC) services are both available.

2) Fine needle aspirate (FNA) procedure & reporting. FNA procedures may be done with or without image guidance. Image guided FNAs (e.g. ultrasound guided FNAs) are performed in our imaging department & allow correlation of imaging & cytology findings potentially providing superior evaluation of a patient. In FNA, a fine gauge needle is used to collect samples from various body sites e.g. thyroid gland, breast lumps, enlarged lymph nodes etc. These are then processed by our experienced team and examined & reported by our pathologists.

3) Examination of body fluids e.g. cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), pleural effusions, peritoneal (ascitic) fluids and cyst contents to evaluate for various disorders like infections and malignancies.