PURPOSE: To evaluate albumin as fixative material of conjunctival scrapings for exfoliative cytology. METHODS: Conjunctival exfoliative cytology was performed through a prospective study in forty-six eyes of twenty-three patients with clinical diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis. Three scrapings were performed: (1) in the pretreatment period, (2) after use of corticosteroids (treatment A) and (3) after use of mast cell stabilizer (treatment B); in two types of smears, with and without albumin, which were then submitted to staining by the Giemsa method. RESULTS: Of the twenty-three patients, five (21.7%) were female and eighteen (78.3%) male, with an age average of 10.8 years. Eighteen (78.3%) presented vernal conjunctivitis and five (21.7%) atopic keratoconjunctivitis. By the statistical analysis of the conjunctival cytology, the smears treated with albumin presented a larger number of intact epithelial cells in relation to the nontreated, only in the pretreatment and in the B treatment groups. The number of neutrophils was significantly greater in the B treatment group than in the smears not treated with albumin in relation to the treated ones. Regarding the number of eosinophils there was no difference between the smears treated with albumin in relation to the nontreated, while in the B treatment group there was a statistical difference between the right and left eye regarding smears without albumin. CONCLUSION: There were no statistical differences between smears treated with albumin and those not treated for most researched cells; in addition, albumin adheres mucus hindering the observation of smears, and thus is not indicated for conjunctival exfoliative cytology.
Conjunctiva; Conjunctivitis, allergic; Albumins; Cytological techniques
