title: Use of fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the evaluation of splenic lesions in a cancer center.
abstract: Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the spleen was performed on 50 patients, of whom 40 had had a previous diagnosis of malignancy (23 lymphoproliferative disorders, 13 carcinomas, 3 melanomas, and 1 sarcoma). The cytologic diagnoses included 22 cases positive for malignancy (10 lymphomas, 9 metastatic carcinomas, 2 metastatic melanomas, and 1 sarcoma), 18 cases negative for malignancy, 4 cases suspicious for malignancy, and 6 nondiagnostic specimens. No major complications were associated with the FNAB procedure, however, one patient did develop a pneumothorax that resolved spontaneously. Subsequent splenectomy was performed in 10 of the 50 cases. There were no false-positive diagnoses, and only one false-negative diagnosis, which was attributed to sampling error. The aspirate, showing only benign splenic parenchyma, was from a patient with splenomegaly and no previous diagnosis; subsequent splenectomy showed acute myelogenous leukemia. In our study, FNAB proved to be a safe and valuable diagnostic tool for evaluating splenic lesions in oncologic patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Caraway
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Fanning
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology*; D013160:Splenic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary