Role of repeat fine needle aspiration cytology in head and neck lesions: preliminary study

In this preliminary prospective study the value of repeating fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in patients with head and neck lesions was investigated. Few reports exist on the significance of repeating the procedure in head and neck patients. Fifty-seven patients have been sampled twice for the first and second (repeat) FNAC. The second aspirate was performed in the operating theatre under general anaesthesia prior to a surgical procedure. The cytological results were compared with the histology of the 57 resected lesions. It was found that the overall diagnostic results improved after repeating the FNAC. It can be concluded that repeating FNAC is useful and should be considered under some circumstances, especially in the case of non-diagnostic cervical lymph node aspirates.