Smear and inclusion cytology in Chiba-needle aspiration biopsy of hepatic tumors.

183 patients underwent fine-needle liver biopsy with a Chiba 22-gauge needle for suspected neoplasia, and the specimens were prepared for smear and inclusion cytology. 149 patients were controlled and 106 were true positives. Of these, 79 yielded material suitable for both methods, which could thus be compared. The results showed that inclusion cytology improves the typing accuracy for the diagnosis of well-differentiated primary liver tumors. Further, specimens for embedding can be obtained with ordinary Chiba 22-gauge needles which are normally used only for obtaining material for smear cytology.