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Mediastinal needle biopsy. A 15‐year experience with 139 cases
Author(s) -
Zafar Nadeem,
Moinuddin Shamim
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19950915)76:6<1065::aid-cncr2820760622>3.0.co;2-m
Subject(s) - medicine , radiology , biopsy , medical diagnosis , thymoma , malignant lymphoma , lymphoma , sampling (signal processing) , sarcoma , surgery , pathology , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
Background . Radiologically guided needle biopsy and cytologic evaluation provide a reliable method of diagnosis for planning definitive therapy of patients with mediastinal lesions. Materials and Methods . In this retrospective study of one of the largest series from a single institution, 141 consecutive mediastinal needle biopsies from 139 patients were reviewed during a 15‐year period. Results . Adequate material was obtained with a diagnosis achieved in 128 cases (92%). Of these, 33 cases (26%) had benign diagnoses; the remaining 95 (74%) had malignant diagnoses, including 81 carcinomas, 3 sarcomas, 8 lymphoproliferative lesions, 2 malignant germ cell tumors, and 1 malignant thymoma. All benign cases were diagnostically confirmed, and 94 of 95 malignant cases were classified correctly. The only discrepancy that occurred involved a malignant lymphoma diagnosed as a malignant germ cell tumor. Of the 13 inadequate samples, the major category included a nodular sclerosis variant of Hodgkin's disease (4 cases), 1 case of thymoma, 1 case of tuberculous lymphadenitis, and 7 cases for which no follow‐up data were available. Conclusion . Needle biopsy is reaffirmed as a reliable and sensitive diagnostic tool for mediastinal lesions, with an overall cytologic diagnostic accuracy of 99% with adequate material. Sclerotic lesions may pose a limitation to this technique and require generous sampling before a more invasive diagnostic procedure is undertaken. Cancer 1995;76:1065–8.