title: Transthoracic fine-needle aspiration. Experience in a cancer center.
abstract: The authors summarize 5 years' experience with transthoracic fine-needle aspiration (TFNA) in 180 patients. Aspirated tumors tended to be large and peripheral. A large pneumothorax was seen after 4.3% of aspirations, and various minor complications followed another 23.3%. Emphysema was a significant risk factor for complications. Follow-up confirmed 151 cancers, with a wide variety of origins and histologic types. In the diagnosis of cancer, TFNA cytology had a specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 82%. Positive TFNA findings usually provided the earliest microscopic diagnosis of cancer or of cancer stage.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D004646:Emphysema / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D011859:Radiography