Abstract
Forty seven ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (USG-FNAC) were performed in patients with small neck tumors and the following results were obtained. The maximum diameter of the punctured tumors ranged from 6mm to 15mm.
1) Thirteen of 16 aspirates from malignant tumors were correctly diagnosed by USG-FNAC, establishing a sensitivity at 81%. All of 31 aspirates from benign tumors were correctly diagnosed by USG-FNAC, establishing a specificity at 100%, Consequently, overall accuracy of USG-FNAC was 94%.
2) USG-FNAC was very useful to diagnose thyroid carcinomas with small primary tumors, and recurrent lymphnode metastases of head and neck cancer in early stage.
3) The false-negative cases were 3 (mucoepidermoid carcinoma of submandibular gland, lymphnode metastasis of thyroid papillary carcinoma and lymphnode metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma).
4) The reason of the false-negative is various and close communication between the clinician and the cytologist is crucial to decrease the false negative rate.
