Fine needle aspiration cytology in advanced pediatric tumors.

Eighty-one children with clinically suspected malignant tumors were subjected to percutaneous fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) at the Pathology Department of the National Institute of Child Health, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from August 1986 through July 1987. There were 47 malignant diagnoses including lymphoma, neuroblastoma, nephroblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and leukemia. Histological findings confirmed the FNAC diagnoses in 36 cases in which a subsequent incisional biopsy or surgically removed specimen was available. FNAC results were confirmed in all benign cases. In 10 advanced cases of NonHodgkin's lymphoma, surgery was not possible because of marked malnourishment. One false negative and no false positive result was encountered. Forty-eight were females and thirty-three males. FNAC can be a quick, effective, and inexpensive alternative to open biopsy, particularly in advanced cases of malignancy in undernourished children where anesthesia and immediate surgery are contraindicated.