title: Fine needle aspiration biopsy of neck lumps in a district hospital.
abstract: This paper examines the results of 117 fine needle aspiration biopsies performed on head and neck lumps over the first 3 years of its use in a district general hospital. The cytological diagnosis has corresponded exactly with the histological diagnosis in 51% of cases and the concurrence rate has been 84%. Fifty-seven (49%) of the 117 masses proved to be malignant and 79% of these were correctly diagnosed by needle biopsy. A further 12% of the aspirations were highly suspicious of malignancy. There were no false positive aspirations (specificity 100%) and 4 false negative results (sensitivity 93%). No complications were encountered.
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000295:instrumentation; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology