title: Diagnosis of follicular lymphoma by fine needle aspiration biopsy.
abstract: This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of follicular lymphoma (FL). Fourteen aspirates of lymph nodes in which follow-up surgical biopsy revealed FL were studied. Two aspirates were deemed unsatisfactory because of a paucity of cells. The remaining 12 cases received the following diagnoses: 4 positive for malignant lymphoma, 4 highly suspicious for malignant lymphoma and 4 false negatives. FNAB of FL can show a monomorphic or polymorphic cell population. The aspirates with a positive or suspicious diagnosis showed monomorphic cell populations. False-negative diagnoses were attributable to misleading sampling or preparation methods in most cases. We conclude that FNAB of FL is less accurate than FNAB of non-Hodgkin's malignant lymphoma (NHL) in general, but the accuracy rate is similar to that of FNAB of all low-grade NHL. The value of current approaches to the diagnosis of suspected lymphoma by FNAB is emphasized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Vancouver General Hospital, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: McNeely
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D006801:Humans; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000473:pathology*