Diagnostic value of fine-needle aspiration from parotid gland lesions.

BACKGROUND

Fine-needle aspiration is a widely accepted method in the preoperative evaluation of head and neck tumors. However, its effectiveness in the interpretation of salivary gland disorders is controversial.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of FNA as a preoperative diagnostic tool of parotid lesions.

METHODS

Reports of 52 FNA from various parotid gland lesions were compared with the final pathologic diagnoses.

RESULTS

We noted 31 true positive, 5 true negative and 16 false negative results. There were no false positive FNA reports. The calculated sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNA diagnosis in this study were 66%, 100%, and 69.2% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The high rate (30.8%) of false negative FNA results was partly explained by sampling errors, therefore specificity of the procedure could be improved by the precise selection of a representative aspiration site.