alimentary tract smear
Noun: A medical laboratory specimen prepared for microscopic examination. It is obtained by washing (lavage) specific sections of the digestive system and is primarily used to detect cancerous cells in those areas.
This is a specialized medical term. It refers to a diagnostic sample collected from the lining of the digestive tract. * The pathologist examined the alimentary tract smear for abnormal cells. * A negative alimentary tract smear is a good sign, but further tests may be needed.
The term is often specified by the precise anatomical source of the sample, though these are considered distinct medical procedures. * Esophageal smear: A smear taken specifically from the esophagus. * Gastric smear: A smear taken specifically from the stomach. * Duodenal smear: A smear taken specifically from the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine).
- Cytologic smear / Cytological smear (n): The general category of diagnostic preparations to which an alimentary tract smear belongs.
- Lavage (n): The specialized washing technique used to collect the cells for the smear.
- Biopsy (n): A more general term for a tissue sample removed for diagnostic testing; an alimentary tract smear is a specific type of cytologic biopsy.
- Digestive tract cytology specimen
- GI tract smear (where GI stands for Gastrointestinal)
This term has a single, specific meaning in medical diagnostics. It does not have common idiomatic or figurative uses.
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any of several cytologic smears obtained from different parts of the alimentary tract; obtained by specialized lavage techniques and used mainly to diagnose cancer in those parts
