The role of fine needle aspiration cytology of breast lumps in the management of patients.

ABSTRACT

The accuracy of diagnosis with fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) was assessed in 3230 patients with breast lumps between 1978 and 1986. The results for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 97.6, 99.4, 99.5 and 97.2 per cent respectively; the overall accuracy was 98.4 per cent. Results reveal that a positive cytologic report by an experienced cytopathologist need not wait for histologic confirmation and the patient can be given definitive treatment based on the cytology report.