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Role of fine‐needle aspiration in the clinical management of solid organ transplant recipients
Author(s) -
Gattuso Paolo,
Reddy Vijaya B.,
Kizilbash Nava,
Kluskens Larry,
Selvaggi Suzanne M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
cancer cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19991025)87:5<286::aid-cncr8>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - medicine , fine needle aspiration , lung , autopsy , lymphoproliferative disorders , solid organ , thyroid , population , transplantation , biopsy , pathology , organ transplantation , surgery , lymphoma , environmental health
BACKGROUND We evaluated the clinical course of the solid‐organ transplant population at our institutions to determine the role of fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) in the clinical management of this subgroup of patients. METHODS 1196 allograft recipients (522 liver, 288 cardiac, 250 renal, 131 lung, 5 heart and lung) were reviewed. A total of 62 (5.2%) (32 liver, 23 heart, 6 lung, and 1 renal) transplant patients underwent an FNA procedure. Thirty‐seven males and 25 females were included, ranging in age from 18 to 71 years (mean 50 years). RESULTS Of the 62 fine‐needle aspirates, 29 (47%) were neoplastic. The most common malignancies aspirated were malignant solid tumors (15 cases)—including 8 epithelial malignancies, 5 hepatocellular carcinomas, and 2 mesenchymal neoplasms—followed by posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders (14 cases). Thirteen (21%) aspirates were inflammatory. The remaining 20 (32%) cases were benign aspirates from various sites (9 liver, 3 breast, 2 thyroid, 2 soft tissue, 2 lung, and 2 vertebral body). Surgical and/or autopsy material was available in 34 cases (55%). There was agreement between the tissue diagnosis and FNA material in 33 cases (97%). One case (3%) was a false negative. No false‐positive cases were recorded. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that over 50% of the aspirates were benign, justifying a conservative approach in the clinical management of these patients. Histologic correlation was available in 54% of the cases with an overall specificity of 100% and a sensitivity of 97%. We conclude that FNA is a highly sensitive and specific technique in the evaluation of lesions occurring in posttransplant patients. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 1999;87:286–94. © 1999 American Cancer Society.