Fine-needle aspiration in the diagnosis of head and neck growths: is it necessary?

The results of fine-needle aspiration cytology performed on 150 patients at the Geneva Clinic of Otolaryngology were analyzed. The accuracy rate was 80%. The study was nondiagnostic in 10% of the cases and falsely negative in another 10%. These results are similar to those in other centers. Nevertheless, several recent reports attest to the accuracy of fine-needle aspirations cytology, and in some clinics it is now part of the initial workup of every patient with a growth in the head and neck. On the basis of our own retrospective analysis, we believe fine-needle aspiration is a useful study only in patients with a previously treated malignancy and who have a new lump in the neck suspected to be a recurrence.