Fine-needle sampling of salivary gland lesions. II. Cytology and histology correlation of 71 cases of Warthin's tumor (adenolymphoma).

Fine-needle sampling (FNS) of 71 Warthin's tumors was performed preoperatively in 70 patients. Cytologic diagnoses were concordant with histology in 50 (70.4%) tumors, whereas 14 (19.7%) cases were cytologically misclassified as benign lesions. Material for cytologic evaluation was unsatisfactory in seven (9.9%) cases, and no suspicious or false-positive diagnoses were observed. FNS is therefore a reliable preoperative technique for assessment of Warthin's tumor with a concordant/benign diagnostic rate of 90.1%.