Aim: An outline of the use, challenges and pitfalls of peritoneal fluid cytology, especially in the area of staging of gynaecological malignancies.

Objectives: To discuss clinical relevance, sample pathway: pre-analytic variables, cytopathological approach to interpretation and reporting, morphology and pitfalls.

Presentation: During the presentation we will use a series of case based studies to establish preanalytical variables of peritoneal fluid cytology, the importance of sample collection and preparation, benign findings, malignancy and metastatic disease. Throughout the case discussions, we will focus on morphological findings as well as pitfalls together with the importance of correlation with clinical, radiological and histological findings.

Conclusion: At the end of the session, we hope you may gain the confidence in microscopic analysis of peritoneal fluid cytology and be excited to start reporting these Papanicolaou and Giemsa preparations.