[Usefulness of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of prostatic carcinoma].

Eighty-six cases of cytological diagnosis of the prostate by fine needle aspiration performed between January, 1986 and December, 1987 were reviewed. Twenty patients were diagnosed as positive cytology in prostate (malignant: class V, suspicious: class IV or atypical: class III) and were admitted and further evaluated with conventional needle biopsy followed by histological diagnosis. Then, 18 of them were diagnosed with prostatic carcinoma. False positive rate and false negative rate of this aspiration cytology were 10% and 3.0%, respectively. There was only one minor complication (fever onset) (1.2%) following this procedure. These results indicate that fine needle aspiration cytology of the prostate gland is an easily performed, diagnostically reliable outpatient procedure with minimal complications.