Cytospins--an alternative method for fine-needle aspiration cytology of the breast: a study of 148 cases.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytospin technique as an alternative method to prepare fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens of the breast. To do so, the cytology of 148 breast FNAs that had been prepared by the cytospin technique and that had histologic correlation, was reviewed. All the cases that were diagnosed as malignant by cytology were proved malignant after surgical excision, and there were no false-positive results. All but two cases diagnosed as benign by cytology proved to be benign on excision. The two false-negative cases were missed due to sampling error. The cytological features seen on cytospins were similar to those seen on conventional direct smears. The major advantage of this method is that no aspirate is unsatisfactory due to unskilled direct smear technique. This, along with its good correlation with histology, proves that the cytospin method is an effective alternative to conventional direct smears for breast FNA.