FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY OF TONGUE SWELLINGS - A STUDY OF 75 CASES

Tongue swellings and growths are traditionally evaluated by surgical b iopsy. Most of them, however; are easily accessible by fine-needle asp iration (FNA), We reviewed 75 lesions presenting as tongue swellings, which were examined by fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in our i nstitutions over a period of 11 yr. The lesions included 17 malignant tumors: 12 cases of squamous carcinoma (SQC), 2 metastases, and 3 non- Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL). In addition, 15 benign tumors and 43 nonneo plastic benign conditions were found. Thirteen of the 17 malignant les ions were diagnosed cytologically as malignant, 3 as suspicious for ma lignancy, and 1 as typical, with biopsy recommended. There were no fal se-positive diagnoses. There were no clinical complications resulting from FNA. We conclude that FNAC of the tongue permits rapid and reliab le diagnosis, and we recommend this method as the first diagnostic ste p in the evaluation of tongue swellings. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.