Use of fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the evaluation of splenic lesions in a cancer center

✍ Scribed by Nancy P. Caraway; Christina V. Fanning

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 159 KB
• Volume: 16
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8755-1039
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0339(199704)16:4<312::aid-dc2>3.0.co;2-f

✦ Synopsis

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the spleen was performed on 50 patients, of whom 40 had had a previous diagnosis of malignancy (23 lymphoproliferative disorders, 13 carcinomas, 3 melanomas, and 1 sarcoma). The cytologic diagnoses included 22 cases positive for malignancy (10 lymphomas, 9 metastatic carcinomas, 2 metastatic melanomas, and 1 sarcoma), 18 cases negative for malignancy, 4 cases suspicious for malignancy, and 6 nondiagnostic specimens. No major complications were associated with the FNAB procedure, however, one patient did develop a pneumothorax that resolved spontaneously. Subsequent splenectomy was performed in 10 of the 50 cases. There were no false-positive diagnoses, and only one false-negative diagnosis, which was attributed to sampling error. The aspirate, showing only benign splenic parenchyma, was from a patient with splenomegaly and no previous diagnosis; subsequent splenectomy showed acute myelogenous leukemia. In our study, FNAB proved to be a safe and valuable diagnostic tool for evaluating splenic lesions in oncologic patients.