Cytological tumour diagnosis in maxillo-facial surgery examinations using the fine needle aspiration technique.

Based on the question of whether fine needle aspiration cytology may also be successfully applied in the area of maxillo-facial surgery, appropriate investigations were carried out on 121 patients showing definitely localizable tumours in this area. The cytological findings of 107 aspiration biopsies were successfully compared with the results of histological examinations. This comparison showed an agreement between the cytological and histological diagnoses in 75.7 % (n = 81) of the tumours examined. No agreement with histological results due to insufficient aspirates was found in 16.8% (n = 18) of all cases, and for 7.5% (n = 8), cytological results permitted only the suspicion of the presence of a certain tumour. Results of the investigation indicates that fine needle aspiration cytology can in principle also be used effectively in the diagnosis of tumours in the oral, jaw bone and facial region. Further cytological inverstigations are still necessary to confirm the morphological basis for the cytological diagnosis of these tumours. The advantages of the uncomplicated diagnostic method are pointed out.