title: Diagnostic value of fine-needle aspiration from parotid gland lesions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Fine-needle aspiration is a widely accepted method in the preoperative evaluation of head and neck tumors. However, its effectiveness in the interpretation of salivary gland disorders is controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of FNA as a preoperative diagnostic tool of parotid lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reports of 52 FNA from various parotid gland lesions were compared with the final pathologic diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We noted 31 true positive, 5 true negative and 16 false negative results. There were no false positive FNA reports. The calculated sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNA diagnosis in this study were 66%, 100%, and 69.2% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high rate (30.8%) of false negative FNA results was partly explained by sampling errors, therefore specificity of the procedure could be improved by the precise selection of a representative aspiration site.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology and Otolaryngology, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Technion Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel. m_lurie@netvision.net.il
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lurie
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Misselevitch
authors.forename: Milo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fradis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010307:Parotid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity