FINE-NEEDLE BIOPSY IN FOCAL LIVER-LESIONS - THE USEFULNESS OF A SCREENING-PROGRAM AND THE ROLE OF CYTOLOGY AND MICROHISTOLOGY

We evaluated the diagnostic usefulness of 244 ultrasound-guided fine-n eedle biopsies (FNB) in 226 patients with suspected liver malignancies , A malignancy was detected in 166 cases (73%) -145 hepatocellular car cinomas (HCC), 21 metastases; benign lesions were aspirated in 60 case s (27%). The sensitivity of FNB was 93%, with 100% specificity, In the FNB false-negative cirrhotic nodules, a final diagnosis of HCC was re ached on repeating the biopsy 1-8 months later. When both cytological and microhistological examinations were performed, the positive correl ation between the two techniques was 80%, with a slightly higher sensi tivity for microhistology (93%). The malignancies diagnosed were poten tially resectable in 26% of cases. We experienced 1 acute complication of FNB and 1 case of needle tract tumour seeding. These results confi rm that FNB is useful in diagnosing malignant liver tumours, We believ e that US-guided FNB is the first-choice invasive technique for assess ing focal benign lesions and malignant tumors in the liver.