[Transthoracic aspiration. Evaluation of cytologic and histologic diagnosis in a pulmonary nodule by retrospective comparison of 2 series of 267 cytoaspirations and 292 coaxial needle aspirations].

Percutaneous fine-needle aspiration is a well established method for the diagnosis of peripheral lung lesion. In order to compare different methods of aspiration, we analyze retrospectively two different series: 267 fine needle aspirations (FNA) compared with the histological diagnosis on surgical specimens and 292 lung biopsies using a coaxial technique with comparison between cytological diagnosis--smears and imprints--and histological diagnosis simultaneously obtained on the same specimen. The sensitivity (91%), the specificity (90%) and the overall typing accuracy related to the histological types obtained by FNAB are equivalent to those of the literature. The low rate of pneumothorax in the series (6%) is related to the use of immediate interpretation of the specimen. Automated biopsy with a coaxial cutting needle provide cytological specimens--smears and imprint--with a high rate of sensibility (95.3%) and of sensibility (98%). The overall sensitivity of the cytological methods alone is better than biopsy (95.3% vs. 92.9%), but the typing accuracy is not as good as biopsy alone (98% vs. 100%). False-positive and false-negative diagnoses are the same in both series. In conclusion the percutaneous aspiration method choose to establish a morphological diagnosis in lung lesion depends now on the habits of the radiologist and the pathologist.