Accuracy of fine needle aspiration biopsy of the breast

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has become a widely used and accepted procedure to detect benign and malignant lesions of the breast. In the past, highly invasive procedures were used in the investigation of suspect breast tumors. Surgical excision was the method of choice during this period often requiring hospitalization of the patient. However, the recent introduction of FNAB has allowed a less traumatic approach for such investigations. Due to pressures from Health Management Organizations (HMO's), FNAB is presently the method of choice allowing for decreased patient trauma, expense, and ability of the procedure to be performed on an outpatient basis. Although highly accepted by most clinicians, others suggest that FNAB should perform diagnostically at a level equivalent or higher than that obtainable by frozen tissue sectioning procedures. This study was designed to evaluate the diagnostic ability of FNAB. Four-hundred twenty-seven patients underwent FNAB during 1993-94 at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Of those patients, two hundred thirty-seven also underwent corresponding surgical biopsies. Sensitivity (88%), specificity (96%), a false positive rate (4%), and a false negative rate (12%) were calculated from the data and reported. In conclusion, the diagnostic accuracy of FNAB of the breast determined in this study shows the significance of the procedure.