Abstract
Objective: To study the value of fine needle aspiration (FNA) in the diagnosis of salivary glands in a community hospital.
Study Design: The results of FNA from 249 cases of salivary gland masses with subsequent histologic correlation were reviewed.
FNA diagnoses were retrospectively correlated with available histologic findings and accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value in the diagnoses were calculated.
Results: The accuracy, sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of cancer were 962%, 72.7%, and 98.6%, respectively. There were 13 cases (5.2%) with insufficient material for diagnosis.
There were three false positive cases. Six false negative cases contained three cases due to underdiagnosis of malignant lymphoma.
Conclusion: FNA of salivary gland masses proved to be a useful diagnostic tool. As for malignant lymphoma, cytological diagnosis is not so reliable, another method, including immunohistochemistry or PCR, is mandatory.
