Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology and Immunocytochemistry of Abdominal Non-Hodgkin's Lymphomas

The cytomorphology and immunologic characteristics of cells obtained by fine-needle aspiration biopsy of 34 consecutive patients with abdominal lymphomas were analyzed. Nineteen patients had no previous diagnosis, while 15 had previously known or suspected lymphomas. On cytology 21 high-grade and 13 low-intermediate-grade lymphomas were diagnosed. Immunologic characterization of aspirated cells identified one T-cell and 33 B-cell neoplasms. A monoclonal light chain expression was detected in 27 of the B-cell lymphomas. The results were in good agreement with those from histologic (n = 19) and immunohistochemical (n = 5) evaluations. The value and accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology in conjunction with immunocytochemistry are detailed.