FINE NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY OF ABDOMINAL ORGANS--TEN-YEAR SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE

The aim of the study was to assess the role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the diagnosis of focal changes in solid abdominal organs. A total of 1084 aspirates from intra-abdominal organs including liver, spleen, pancreas and kidneys obtained by ultrasound (US) guidance during a 10-year period were included in the study. The smears were classified as benign, malignant or suspected of malignancy, and unsatisfactory for interpretation. The liver accounted for more than half of the US-guided FNA procedures, followed by the pancreas with 38%. Out of 1084 aspirations, 192 (17.7%) were inadequate for cytologic analysis. Over half of aspirated lesions in the pancreas were primary cancers, while one-third of pancreatic lesions were benign. In the majority of kidney lesions (83%), cytology found benign changes, mostly cysts. Spleen FNA was least likely; in most cases (59%) it showed lymphoid tissue hyperplasia; in four cases cytologic diagnosis was lymphoma and three lesions were suspected lymphoma. During the study, no major complications were observed on any US-guided FNAC procedure. In conclusion, intra-abdominal FNA is a reliable, sensitive and specific method with a high diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of malignant lesions. It can be utilized as a preoperative procedure for the management of all intra-abdominal lesions.