Cover illustration: Lymph node fine needle aspiration smear showing a polymorphous population of dispersed lymphoid cells represented by small lymphocytes and follicular centre cells including nucleolated immunoblasts (Diff-Quick stain 430x), from the Review Article COVID-19 post-vaccination lymphadenopathy: A review of the use of fi ne needle aspiration cytology by Alessandro Caputo et al., pp. 423–432, https://doi.org/10.1111/cyt.13221 and Bar chart showing the percentage of cytology cases co-reported before and during the pandemic, from the Review Article International survey of cytopathology training during the pandemic: Water under the bridge? by Nataliya Piletska et al., pp. 433–441, https://doi.org/10.1111/cyt.13262.

This article summarizes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cytopathology and cancer detection, focusing on workload, human resources, education, and molecular testing.

In the recent pandemic emergency caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), most activities in many areas of medicine have undergone a remarkable reduction. The health emergency has underlined the evolving role of cytopathology that is increasingly playing a remarkable role in providing oncologists and other physicians with timely information on personalised modern treatment of cancer diagnosed by cytological means.

The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a powerful change driver in the field of pathology and has led to greater awareness of the possibility of digital for cytopathology. Most of the published evidence for the impact of COVID on cytopathology deals with the workload, diagnostic yield, and rate of malignancy, but there are numerous reports on the efficacy and emerging advantages of digital cytopathology in training and teaching. The pandemic has not brought us closer to a digital diagnosis in cytopathology in the same way as in surgical pathology, but has definitely led to an increased awareness of the issues related to digital cytology and the potential benefits that may come from the adoption of whole slide imaging for this field of pathology.

Lymph node (LN) Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been used to diagnose single cases or small series of C19-LAP. All the cytological diagnoses were confirmed by follow-up or excisional biopsy. The high diagnostic value of LN-FNAC was extremely useful during the pandemic and may be precious when CNB or histological excisions are difficult to perform as it happened during Covid lockdowns.

Assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cytopathology training at an international level. An international survey was distributed to medical practitioners training in cytopathology. A total of 82 responses were received from seven countries. The pandemic catalysed many changes in cytopathology training, affecting the trainees’ exposure to cases, the use of remote reporting, consultant/attending working practices, redeployment, and local as well as external teaching.

This paper elucidates the effect of two consecutive disasters—the COVID-19 pandemic followed by the war—on cytopathology practice in Ukraine. The impact of war on the numbers and geographic distribution of samples, on workload and laboratory performance indicators, as well as the rate of abnormal cytological samples are discussed.

A retrospective study comparing expression of eight immunohistochemical markers in paired biopsies and pleural effusion cell blocks from 59 pleural mesotheliomas.

A deep convolutional network model to classify benign and malignant cells in images of effusion cytology smears.

Reports of the fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytopathology of pleomorphic dermal sarcoma (PDS) are rare with this being the only series on the subject to date. FNA biopsy smears consist of a mixture of large spindle, epithelioid, and bizarre pleomorphic cells. Distinguishing PDS from atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is not possible using FNA biopsy.

Photomicrograph highlighting the cytomorphological features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a child showing trabecular architecture with peripheral and central sinusoidal endothelial cell wrapping. The cells are relatively monomorphic and have abundant cytoplasm. Intranuclear inclusion (arrow) is seen. Cytomorphological features of HCC are well known in adults and are not different from those in paediatric age. But it needs to be differentiated from hepatoblastoma which is much more common in the paediatric age group. The present study highlights that these tumours share some cytomorphological features. But since they have different clinical implications and management, a meticulous cytomorphological evaluation with clinico-radiological correlation can be a useful tool for correct diagnosis prior to planning treatment.

Cytomorphology along with positive AE1/AE3 staining and Brachyury staining support the dignosis of metastatic dedifferentiated chordoma.

A proper intraoperative or preoperative diagnosis of conventional chordoma is crucial for appropriate surgical management because incomplete excision reduces the likelihood of progression-free survival and overall survival. The article presents the characteristic cytological features (including an abundant myxochondroid stroma and cells with large vacuoles) and specific immunohistochemical staining results (nuclear brachyury positivity and co-expression of epithelial markers and S100) that make cytology an effective tool for the diagnosis of this entity.

In this article, we discuss an intimidating finding of lymphocytic emperipolesis which was observed in breast carcinoma cells on cytology smears.