Rapid staining and immediate interpretation of fine-needle aspiration cytology for palpable breast lesions: diagnostic accuracy, mammographic, ultrasonographic and histopathologic correlations.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated the role and turn around time of rapid staining and immediate interpretation of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for women with palpable breast lesions.


METHODS
A total of 408 FNAC specimens from 400 patients with palpable breast lesions was analyzed for immediate interpretation and preliminary cytologic diagnosis. All cytological diagnoses were correlated with subsequent alcohol-fixed Papanicolaou-stained slides, mammographic, ultrasonographic and histopathological findings.


RESULTS
Of the 408 specimens, 243 (59.6%) were interpreted as benign, 37 (9.0%) atypical, 22 (5.4%) suspicious, 68 (16.7%) malignant, and 38 (9.3%) unsatisfactory. 132 of 408 (32.4%) had subsequent surgical procedures; the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 88.5, 100, 100, 81.9 and 92.4%, respectively. The average turn around time was 8.6 min. Mammographic results were available in 242 (59.3%) cases, with 112 (46.3%) undergoing surgical excision. In correlation with mammography and surgical pathology, the false-positive rate, false-negative rate, sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 1.9, 10.5, 98.1, 89.5 and 95.8%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Rapid FNAC interpretation is a useful, effective diagnostic method for palpable breast lesions in our healthcare environment.
Department of Pathology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Phui-Ly
PL
Liew
Tse-Jia
TJ
Liu
Mao-Chih
MC
Hsieh
Hsiu-Pen
HP
Lin
Ching-Fang
CF
Lu
Min-Szu
MS
Yao
Chi-Long
CL
Chen
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002648:Child; D003584:Cytological Techniques; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods*; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult