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Ok, I confess - this is not really an MCAT question, but it's a question related to the medical field and I need help from any doctors or histologists in the making who can help me understand this.
In most microbiology labs, the quantity of squamous epithelial cells in the sputum is used as a criteria for accepting or rejecting the sputum specimen for culture, the logic behind this being that a specimen with a high number of squamous epithelial cells would be indicative of contamination with saliva (i.e. it is not truly sputum) and it would help the microbiologist avoid attaching clinical significance to what would then be normal oral flora.
My question is, are there other forms of oral epithelial cells...i.e could one see epithelial cells other than squamous epithelials in sputum? Would a sputum specimen that is rich in a different form of epithelial cells (e.g. cuboidal epithelial cells) still be rejected on the basis of contamination with saliva or is it possible for true sputum to contain these other forms of epithelial cells?
Perhaps I should explain. I work in a microbiology medical lab and we accept or reject sputum specimens for culture based on the number of SQUAMOUS epithelial cells in the specimen. We accepted a specimen today that was rich in what looked like to me cuboidal epithelial cells simply because these epithelial cells were not squamous. Help me understand how this makes a difference...shouldnt any sputum specimen rich in any kind of epithelial cells be rejected?
I am simply trying to understand this better. Appreciate your help with this.
In most microbiology labs, the quantity of squamous epithelial cells in the sputum is used as a criteria for accepting or rejecting the sputum specimen for culture, the logic behind this being that a specimen with a high number of squamous epithelial cells would be indicative of contamination with saliva (i.e. it is not truly sputum) and it would help the microbiologist avoid attaching clinical significance to what would then be normal oral flora.
My question is, are there other forms of oral epithelial cells...i.e could one see epithelial cells other than squamous epithelials in sputum? Would a sputum specimen that is rich in a different form of epithelial cells (e.g. cuboidal epithelial cells) still be rejected on the basis of contamination with saliva or is it possible for true sputum to contain these other forms of epithelial cells?
Perhaps I should explain. I work in a microbiology medical lab and we accept or reject sputum specimens for culture based on the number of SQUAMOUS epithelial cells in the specimen. We accepted a specimen today that was rich in what looked like to me cuboidal epithelial cells simply because these epithelial cells were not squamous. Help me understand how this makes a difference...shouldnt any sputum specimen rich in any kind of epithelial cells be rejected?
I am simply trying to understand this better. Appreciate your help with this.
