Fine Needle Aspiration of Breast Masses

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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic efficacy of breast fine needle aspiration (FNA) in the routine practice of a community hospital. STUDY DESIGN: The study group consisted of 1,398 consecutive FNA biopsies of the female breast performed at our institution during a five-year period; 450 (32%) had histologic follow-up. Both FNA and the histologic diagnosis were compared in order to establish the accuracy, efficiency and safety of the FNA breast technique. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the FNA procedure was 93.49% and specificity 95.73%, with a predictive value for a positive diagnosis of 93.49% and for It negative diagnosis, 95.73%. The overall diagnostic accuracy was 94.84%, and the sensitivity of cytologic diagnosis was 98.75%. The false negative and false positive rates were 2.5%, including 10 cases with suspicious diagnoses and only 1 false positive diagnosis (0.23%). The false positive and false negative cases were recorded as having no effect or a minimal effect on patient management, and no mastectomy was performed because of this FNA diagnosis. CONCLUSION: FNA breast biopsy is an efficient tool for diagnosis when performed by surgical pathologists with cytologic training but not exclusively dedicated to cytopathology.