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Ascitic Fluid Cytology Seen in a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Ascites is a symptom that can originate due to diverse pathologies. A lot of investigations including ascitic fluid cytology (AFC) can be done on it to help determine its origin. The aim of this study, is to document the findings and highlight the importance of AFC in patient care in Uyo. All AFC reports and slides in the Department of Histopathology, University of Uyo were retrieved, reviewed and used for this study. The age ranged from 1.5 – 80 years with mean age, 41.79 (±17.23) years. About 71.8% of the ascitic fluid (AF) specimens were from patients between the 3rd and 6th decade. Females predominated in all age groups expect 10-19 year's group, with a male to female sex ratio of 1:2.4. Malignant cells were seen in 28.7% of all the samples, while 51.2% were negative for malignant cells. Malignant cells were seen in 4 (6.7%), 11 (18.3%) and 6 (10%) of the AFC performed due to various liver pathologies, ovarian malignancies and intra-abdominal malignancies respectively. Malignant cells were found more in females with a male to female ratio of 1: 3.6. Age group 40-49 years accounted for most of the malignant cases (26.6%). The pattern of AFC in Uyo is similar to the pattern in other parts of Nigeria