Pyknosis

Karyopyknosis means the shrinkage of the nucleus and condensation of chromatin into a uniform mass. Pyknosis is an indication of apoptosis, the programmed cell death.

In the gynecological cytodiagnosis of Karyopyknoseindex indicates the ratio between karyopyknotischen cells of the vaginal epithelium and those with sheet-like core. It is used for the assessment cycle.