[Current value of transrectal fine needle biopsy. High predictive value in the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma, minimal discomfort to the patient].

Seventy-eight patients with palpatory or transrectal US prostatic findings or elevated prostate-specific antigen, were submitted simultaneously to transrectal fine needle aspiration biopsy and a US-guided perineal core-needle biopsy of the prostate. A carcinoma of the prostate was detected in 42 cases, with cytology being positive in 36 and core-needle biopsy in 32 cases. Despite the use of transrectal ultrasound, which permits guided biopsy of the prostate, fine needle aspiration is clearly superior to ultrasound-guided core-needle biopsy, with a sensitivity of 83.7% vs. 74.4%. Presumably for method-related reasons, the material obtained with fine needle aspiration biopsy is certainly more representative of the entire gland as compared with core-needle biopsy. Furthermore, transrectal ultrasonic findings are too unspecific to permit US-guided core-needle biopsy to provide better results than obtainable with the conventional finger-guided core-needle biopsy.