Fine needle tissue aspiration biopsy of the testis.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a fine needle tissue aspiration biopsy technique that provides sufficient tissue for accurate histological assessment and research purposes.

DESIGN

After assessing different needles and developing a method for handling small amounts of tissue, 87 patients underwent fine needle tissue aspiration biopsy. The quantity, quality, and appearance of the tissue was examined and adverse effects of the procedure were noted. Fine needle tissue aspiration and open biopsy samples were compared in 26 patients. Suitability of the tissue for flow cytometry and electron microscopy was also assessed.

RESULTS

The 20-gauge, 5-cm Menghini and Turner biopsy needles penetrated the testis more readily and recovered larger quantities of tissue. Adequate samples were recovered from 83% of cases (average of 21.8 tubule sections per testis) with the frequency of recovery and the amount of tissue obtained increasing through-out the study. Some distortions of the tissue were seen but these rarely interfered with the diagnosis. Although many patients suffered slight discomfort during the injection of the anesthetic, no serious complications were encountered during or after the procedure. Comparison of fine needle tissue aspiration and open biopsy diagnoses found either full agreement (56%) or slight differences (38%) in the degree of hypospermatogenesis.

CONCLUSIONS

Fine needle tissue aspiration biopsy was found to be a quick, easy, repeatable, and reproducible method of obtaining testicular tissue. No serious adverse effects of the procedure were detected and the diagnoses were found to be comparable to those obtained by open biopsy.