Fine-needle aspiration cytology of nonpalpable breast lesions: US versus stereotaxic guidance.

Abstract

The authors evaluated ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in 270 patients with suspicious findings at mammography. FNAC with a 10-MHz transducer and real-time scanner was performed when a lesion seen mammographically was unequivocally depicted at US. The needle was inserted with variable obliquity to the scanning plane. Stereotaxically guided FNAC was performed when lesions were not visible at US. High suspicion at mammography and positive cytologic reports led to surgical biopsy. Of the 270 lesions, 120 (44.4%) were visible at US. Opacities were the most frequently visualized lesions. Inadequate samplings were most frequently reported for opacities with smooth margins. Differences in accuracy and inadequacy rate between the two modalities were not significant. Cancer was surgically confirmed in 86 of 110 cases. The other 160 lesions were considered benign, and mammographic follow-up in 120 has shown no change. Because FNAC with US guidance was faster and less expensive, it is recommended as the technique of choice in lesions detectable with US.

Nonpalpable, well-defined, probably benign breast nodule: management by fine-needle aspiration biopsy and long-interval follow-up mammography

“…In fact, in our follow-up mammograms no cancer has appeared among the 34 nodules with an insufficient/inadequate cytological result. This is probably related to the estimates made by Ciatto et al [16] in the sense that the opacities with smooth margins show a higher inadequacy rate in FNAB owing to the poor cellularity of these lesions, most of which are fibroadenomas [16,17]. On the other hand, our inadequacy rate is at the level of most authors [2,6,13,16], although others have also published series with very low rates [3,15,17].…”

Evaluation of needle size for breast biopsy: comparison of 14-, 16-, and 18-gauge biopsy needles.

“…Because of these controversies and the pos sible limitations of large-core breast biopsy, some groups continue to perform fine-needle aspiration biopsy [16,17]. Thus, even support ers of 14-gauge needles in breast core biopsy would welcome a prospective comparative study of different needle sizes [18].…”

Clinical management of nonpalpable or small breast masses by fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) under ultrasound guidance

“…In the present study, we showed that this technique is useful and sensitive for the diagnosis and management of small and nonpalpable breast masses. A few investigators have reported on the accuracy and clinical usefulness of this technique [16][17][18]. However, previous studies did not describe the management of breast masses and staging of cancer.…”

“…FNAB under US guidance was first reported in 1987 [15]. There are few reports, however, on the usefulness of FNAB under US guidance [16][17][18] and there has been no report of clinical management of nonpalpable or small mases based on FNAB under US guidance.…”