FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY OF THE BREAST - A REVIEW OF 1,868 CASES USING THE CYTOSPIN METHOD

The Cytospin method of fine needle aspiration cytology includes flushi ng the aspirate into 10 mL of Cytospin fluid; the cytocentrifuge prepa rations ale then safely and conveniently prepared in the laboratory. S lides are stained with Papanicolaou stain and hematoxylin and eosin. F rom November 1989 through October 1992, 1,868 breast aspirates from pa lpable lumps were examined by this method at our institution. The meth od detected 398 of 441 cancers (90.2%); of the 43 that were undetected , 16 had inadequate aspirates, and 27 were falsely reported as negativ e (for a false-negative rate of 6.0%). There were no false positives; the positive predictive value for malignancy was 100%. The inadequacy rate was 14.8%. Excluding inadequate samples, the complete sensitivity was 95.2%, with 96.5% specificity. The cytospin method of processing breast aspirates from palpable breast lumps is an acceptable alternati ve to conventional fine needle aspiration using direct smears. It is a lso highly convenient as an outpatient procedure, obviating the need f or skillful preparation of direct smears.