ACCURACY OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY IN HEAD AND NECK TUMORS

Purpose: Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is frequently used in th e diagnosis of lesions occurring in the head and neck region. This stu dy evaluated the correlation between the findings on FNAB and the hist ological findings observed after surgery. Materials and Methods: A rev iew of 218 patients who underwent FNAB of a head or neck tumor was per formed. Cytological reports were classified into the following diagnos tic categories: negative or positive for malignant cells and unsatisfa ctory. False-positive, false-negative, true-positive (sensitivity), an d true-negative (specificity) rates were calculated. Results: Twelve s pecimens did not allow an adequate diagnosis (5.5%), Among benign tumo rs, 96.2% of the cases were correctly diagnosed, and 3.8% were nondiag nostic specimens, Among malignant tumors, 86.4% of cases were correctl y identified. There were two (3.4%) false-negatives and six (10.2%) no ndiagnostic specimens, with a total false-negative rate of 13.6%. Conc lusions: Sampling errors present a minor problem with FNAB, Most nondi agnostic or incorrect specimens were caused by nonhomogenous lesions, with poor placement of the needle and an insufficient amount of aspira ted material, FNAB is a useful modality for the diagnosis of head and neck masses.