Rapid Staining and Immediate Interpretation of Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology for Palpable Breast Lesions: Diagnostic Accuracy, Mammographic, Ultrasonographic and Histopathologic Correlations

Objective We investigated the role and turn around time of rapid staining and immediate interpretation of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for women with palpable breast lesions Study Design A total of 408 FNAC specimens from 400 patients with palpable breast lesions was analyzed for immediate interpretation and preliminary cytologic diagnosis All cytological diagnoses were correlated with subsequent alcohol-fixed Papanicolaou-stained slides, mammographic, ultrasonographic and histopathological findings Results Of the 408 specimens, 243 (59 6%) were interpreted as benign, 37 (90%) atypical, 22 (5 4%) suspicious, 68 (16 7%) malignant, and 38 (9 3%) unsatisfactory 132 of 408 (32 4%) had subsequent surgical procedures, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 88 5, 100, 100, 81 9 and 92 4%, respectively The average turn around time was 8 6 min Mammographic results were available in 242 (59 3%) cases, with 112 (46 3%) undergoing surgical excision In correlation with mammography and surgical pathology, the false-positive rate, false-negative rate, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 1 9, 10 5, 98 1, 89 5 and 95 8%, respectively Conclusions Rapid FNAC interpretation is a useful, effective diagnostic method for palpable breast lesions in our healthcare environment Copyright (C) 2010 S Karger AG Basel