Fine needle aspirationbiopsy experiences of head and neck masses in a two years period in Ondokuz Mayis University -50 cases

The aim of this study was to compare the histopathological results of fine needle aspiration biopsy (fnab)s in head and neck masses, and to evaluate the specifity and sensitivity for diagnosis. data were obtained retrospectively from 50 patients who referred to our clinic with head and neck masses before surgery between august 2008 and july 2010. twenty six patients (52%) were male and 24 (48%) were female. the mean and median ages of the patients were 54.3±17.8 and 55 respectively. twenty nine patients (58%) had malignant histopathological etiology; in 10 patients (34.4%) fnab was reported as “positive malignity”, 4 patients (13.7%) were reported as “negative malignity” and 15 patients (51.7%) were reported as “non-categorize” and/or “insuficient for assesment”. twenty one patients (42%) had benign etiology; in 12 patients (57.1%) fnab was reported as “negative malignity”, 9 patients (42.8%) were “non-categorize” and/or “insufficient for assessment”. there were no positive malignant reports obtained in the benign group. squamous cell carcinoma is the most common diagnosis in malignant etiologies and nonspecific inflammation is the most common diagnosis in benign etiologies, which could be diagnosed with fnab. fnab method sensitivity was 71.4% , specifity was 100% and accuracy rate was found 84.6% . when compared with the literature, determination of the low level sensitivity and accuracy rates could be because biopsies were taken by different persons and the imaging techniques were not use.