[Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology for neck lesions]

In 1997, 240 cases of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) were performed for neck lesion at Jichi Medical School Hospital. We compared the preoperative cytology findings with postoperative pathologic results for 63 cases (56 lesions) from patients who underwent surgery or open biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of cytological diagnosis were 93.5%, 100% and 96.2%, respectively. There were 2 false negative cases in thyroid gland, which were follicular and medullary carcinomas. Insufficient material for cytological analysis was obtained in 62 of 240 cases (25.8%). Since FNAC can provide high accuracy, we need to reduce insufficient material cases.