Diagnostic accuracy of fine-needle aspiration biopsy is determined by physician training in sampling technique
✍ Scribed by Ljung, Britt-Marie ;Drejet, Anne ;Chiampi, Nona ;Jeffrey, Juli ;Goodson, William H. ;Chew, Karen ;Moore, Dan H. ;Miller, Theodore R.
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2001
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 88 KB
- Volume
- 93
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0008-543X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
BACKGROUND.
Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) has been used with variable success as a diagnostic test for benign and malignant breast lesions. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of training physicians in the fine-needle aspiration sampling-technique on the diagnostic accuracy of FNAB of palpable breast masses. The settings for this study were private physicians' offices and university clinics of primary care physicians, surgeons, and cytopathologists.
CONCLUSIONS.
FNAB, when performed by physicians who are well trained in the technique, is a highly accurate, cost-effective diagnostic method that carries minimal morbidity and could replace a large number of surgical biopsies. When performed by physicians without adequate training, FNAB is often misleading and potentially harmful.