Pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma, diagnosed by peroperative fine needle aspiration biopsy.

Thirty-seven cases of fine needle aspiration biopsies from the pancreas with histologic control are reviewed. The different cell types are described and illustrated. The cytologic/histologic correlation was very high. Only cells from very highly differentiated cancers were difficult to distinguish from atypical ductal cells. The clinical implications of the cytologic findings are briefly discussed.