Fine needle aspiration (FNA) of testicular germ cell tumours; a 10-year experience in a community hospital.

A retrospective reappraisal is made of the smears of 29 testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT) studied by FNA in which both orchiectomy specimens and histologic diagnoses were available. In 22 cases (75.86%) the yield was sufficient and contained cells suitable for cytologic diagnosis; in these 22 cases a diagnoses of malignancy was reached. In four cases (13.79%) the yield was sparse and a diagnostic cells were partially obscured by haemorrhage and necrosis; these cases were categorized as suspicious of malignancy. In these cases (10.34%) the yield was not suitable for cytologic evaluation because haemorrhage and necrosis hampered evaluation of diagnostic cells. The cytologic findings that enable a reliable diagnosis of TGCT are described and those cytologic features that may lead the less experienced cytopathologist into an erroneous diagnosis are discussed. Pure TGCT can be confidently diagnosed with FNA and mixed TGCT can be successfully diagnosed, although it is difficult to recognized every cytologic subtype observed in the histologic sections. Despite the advantages of FNA for the prompt diagnosis of TGCT, FNA can not fully replace the histologic diagnosis and should rather be considered as a helpful tool in the work-up of testicular tumours.