A study of salivary gland aspiration cytology reporting: Guideline validity

We retrospectively reviewed 44 cases of major salivary gland lesions surgically resected following preoperative fineneedle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Our objective was to determine the validity of the salivary gland FNAC reporting proposed in 2004 by the Japanese Society of Clinical Cytology. Of the 44 lesions, 33 were in the parotid gland and 11 in the submandibular gland. Of these, 8 lesions were malignant. Two from benign lesions could not be satisfactorily evaluated, and 4 from benign lesions and 1 from a malignant lesion were indeterminate. Results were 3 true positive, 30 true negative, and 4 false negative, with no false positive results. Calculated sensitivity was 42.9% (4/7), specificity 100% (30/30), and accuracy 89.2% (34/37). We concluded that using the new reporting decreases ambiguity in clinicians' interpretation of cytology reports, thus benefitting subjects.