Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 11, 2026
Detection of Extravascular Trypanosoma Parasites by Fine Needle Aspiration
Published on: August 7, 2019
Fine needle aspiration of poorly defined indurated and well-defined breast lesions: a cytopathologic comparative
Hidehiro Takei1, Bernardo Ruiz, Jane Dancer
1Department of Pathology, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. takei327@aol.com
Objective:
To compare the cytologic findings and diagnoses of breast fine needle aspiration (FNA) samples of well-defined lesions (WDL) with those of poorly defined indurated lesions.
Study Design:
We examined 371 consecutive breast FNA specimens obtained without diagnostic image guidance. Fifty-eight lesions were described by the examining pathologists as PDILs, and the remaining 313 lesions were described as WDLs.
Results:
Compared with WDLs, PDILs were more likely to yield hypocellular specimens deemed unsatisfactory for diagnostic evaluation (37.9% vs. 14.1%). However, a substantial number of atypical, suspicious for malignancy and malignant cases (12.1%, 5.2%, and 13.8%, respectively) were identified with PDILs. In addition, benign diagnoses were more frequently rendered with aspirates of WDLs, compared with PDILs (47.9% vs. 31.0%). In our study, FNAs of PDILs were more often diagnostic in white women < 49 years of age and in lesions measuring > 2 cm.
Conclusion:
Given the relatively high frequency of malignant, suspicious and atypical lesions detected with PDILs, FNA is a suitable first diagnostic approach for PDILs, especially considering the relatively low cost and simplicity of FNA procedures without diagnostic imaging guidance.
