THE ROLE OF CYTOLOGY IN DIFFERENTIATION OF BREAST-LESIONS

The introduction of cytologic examination in to the diagnostic procedu re has made it possible to define breast lesions better as early as th e preoperative stage. However, there are interpretative problems depen ding on the nature of the lesions that make a histologic examination n ecessary. The cytology of nipple discharge or FNA of breast lesions wo uld permit the best possible selection of the cases, indicating not on ly whether surgery is necessary, but also the basis on which it should be performed (outpatient under local anesthesia or inpatient under ge neral anesthesia). The definitive histologic diagnosis of 447 cases su bmitted to surgery under general anesthesia and of 379 who were operat ed under local anesthesia has been correlated with the relative cytolo gic examination. The sensitivity and specificity of the cytologic exam ination are respectively 97.7% and 98.8%.