Use of soluble swabs in the diagnosis of bladder neoplasia.

A technique is described for obtaining samples of bladder epithelium using soluble swabs. Changes indicating neoplasia were seen in a large proportion of patients with bladder carcinoma. These changes were absent in the non-neoplastic control cases. The method provided tissue similar to that obtained by biopsy and surgical removal. The cellular appearances resembled those seen in neoplastic cells exfoliated into urine.