Tissue effects of salivary gland fine-needle aspiration - Does this procedure preclude accurate histologic diagnosis?

Recent reports have alluded to various tissue effects secondary to fine-nee dle aspiration (FNA), particularly infarction observed in resected salivary gland masses, precluding accurate histologic diagnosis. Our experience wit h the use of 25-gauge needles indicates otherwise. We retrospectively revie wed 94 resected salivary gland masses previously sampled by FNA, looking fo r infarction, hemorrhage, needle track tumor seeding, and fibrosis. We asse ssed the significance of these complications and their impact on the histol ogic diagnosis. The median interval from FNA to excision was 25 days. Varia ble degrees of infarction and hemorrhage were present in 7 cases (7%) and 9 cases (10%), respectively. Infarction ranged from 5% to 80% (average, 20%) , while hemorrhage averaged less than 20% of the material on the tissue sec tions. Significant infarction was present in acinic cell carcinomas (3/7), but histologic diagnosis was not compromised, and tissue alterations were a bsent. We conclude that FNA of salivary gland lesions using 25-gauge needle s is safe and does not significantly alter the histologic diagnosis. The ti ssue effects observed did not preclude accurate diagnostic interpretation i n any case.