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Published on: August 7, 2019
Diagnostic accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology in Warthin tumors
Laura L Veder1, Jeroen D F Kerrebijn, Frank M Smedts
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Background:
Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) for Warthin tumors of the parotid gland.
Methods:
All cytologic diagnoses of Warthin tumor between 1990 and 2007 were correlated with available histology. In addition, our results were compared to current literature.
Results:
In 310 cases, Warthin tumor was diagnosed by FNAC. In 133 cases, (43%) both cytology and histology were available. In 127 of these 133 cases (95.5%), the diagnosis Warthin tumor was confirmed by histology. In 4 cases (3%), a benign lesion was diagnosed and 2 (1.5%) revealed a malignant lesion. On review, those cytologic diagnoses were not certain. In the literature, 11 missed malignancies (5.4%) in 202 cases were reported.
Conclusion:
The diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for the diagnosis of Warthin tumor is high and the percentage of missed malignant tumors is very low. Our results imply that a cytologic diagnosis of Warthin tumor may justify conservative treatment.
