Imprint cytology of needle core-biopsy specimens of breast lesions: is it a useful adjunt to rapid assessment breast clinics?
This study aimed at assessing the practicability of imprint cytology (IC) of core biopsy (CB) specimens in order to achieve one-stop diagnosis of breast lesions. In total, 199 symptomatic patients underwent free-hand CB of the suspected breast lesions. The slides were stained by Diff-QuikO and reported independently of histological reporting. For practical reasons cytology specimens were graded as follows: C1=inadequate, as less than 4 groups of epithelial cells were seen, C2=benign, C3=probably benign, C4=probably malignant and C5=positive for malignancy. The results of IC were correlated with CB histology. Absolute sensitivity of the IC was 85.0% and complete sensitivity was 89.2% when correlated with CB. Specificity (biopsy cases only) of IC was 53.1% while full specificity was 53.1%. Positive predictive value of C5 was 99.3%, C4 55.6 % and C3 was 100%. Overall suspicious rate was 5.5%. It was concluded that IC is a reliable way of diagnosing symptomatic breast lesions in one-stop breast clinic and retains the advantage of pre-operative availability of detailed pathological characteristics of tumours for treatment planning.
Qureshi
N A
NA
Breast Unit, Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, West Midlands, UK. surgeon_1@hotmail.com
Beresford
A
A
Sami
S
S
Boparai
R
R
Gosh
S
S
Carmichael
A R
AR
D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors