Fine needle aspiration of palpable breast masses performed in a military obstetrics/gynecology clinic: a follow-up report.

Evaluation of breast disease has increasingly become more integrated into the routine gynecology care of women seen in the obstetrics/gynecology (OB/GYN) clinic. Patients expect their obstetrician-gynecologist to have expertise in evaluation and diagnosis of breast problems that arise from self examination, routine mammography, unusual breast symptoms, or clinical findings during annual gynecology examinations. In 1993, Tripler Army Medical Center Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology initiated a Breast Evaluation Clinic to better serve its patients with breast problems and to train military OB/GYN resident physicians in evaluation and diagnosis of breast disease. A preliminary report of the first 40 patients evaluated in this Breast Evaluation Clinic was previously published in Military Medicine. The patient evaluation, the technique of performing fine needle aspiration (FNA) of breast masses, and the cytologic slide preparation was described in the preliminary report. This follow-up report presents a total of 245 patients who underwent FNA of palpable breast masses in the Tripler Army Medical Center OB/GYN Department Breast Evaluation Clinic between December 1, 1993, and December 8, 1995. Patients found to have suspicious breast masses or abnormal mammography reports at the time of evaluation were immediately referred to the Department of General Surgery for evaluation rather than be subjected to FNA in the OB/GYN Department Breast Evaluation Clinic. Of the 245 patients who underwent FNA, 26 (11%) were referred to the Department of General Surgery for treatment or open biopsy based on cytologic diagnosis and evaluation in the OB/GYN Breast Evaluation Clinic. No major complications from the FNA procedures occurred during this 2-year study period.