title: Diagnostic aspects of fine needle aspiration for lung lesions: series of 245 cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transthoracic fine needle aspiration (FNA) is one of several methods for establishing tissue diagnosis of lung lesions. Other tissue or cell sources for diagnosis include sputum, endobronchial biopsy, washing and brushing, endobronchial FNA, transthoracic core needle biopsy, biopsy from thoracoscopy or thoracotomy. The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of FNA and other diagnostic tests in diagnosing lung lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The population included all patients undergoing FNA for lung lesions at Meir Medical Center from 2006 through 2010. Information regarding additional tissue tests was derived from the electronic archives of the Department of Pathology, patient records and files from the Department of Oncology. Sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for each test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  FNA was carried out in 245 patients. Malignant tumors were diagnosed in 190 cases (78%). They included adenocarcinoma (43%), squamous cell carcinoma (15%), non-small cell carcinoma, not otherwise specified (19%), neurondocrine tumors (7%), metastases (9%) and lymphoma (3%). The specificity of FNA for lung neoplasms was 100%; sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy were 87%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FNA is the most sensitive procedure for establishing tissue diagnoses of lung cancer. Combination with core needle biopsy increases the sensitivity. Factors related to the lesion (nature, degenerative changes, location) and to performance of all stages of test affect the ability to establish a diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel E-mail : dkidron@clalit.org.il.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kravtsov
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sukmanov
authors.forename: Dani
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yaffe
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shitrit
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottfried
authors.forename: Andreea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cioca
authors.forename: Debora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kidron
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001999:Bronchoscopy; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity