The importance of puncture cytology in diagnosis of benign and malignant breast changes

: In 500 mamma needle biopsies that were cytologically examined we found a precision of 87.4%, with 2.6% false negative, and 6.2% false positive results. In 19 cases a cytological diagnosis was not possible resulting in a sensitivity of 0.94 and a specificity of 0.86. False positive findings were due to misinterpretations of the cytological pictures, as were also false negative findings. In the latter cases sampling mistakes could also be the reason. Cytological diagnostic should only be made using triple diagnostic technique since the methods are complementary to each other in respect to their diagnostic security. Practical experience in the puncturing technique as well as an experienced cytologist are prerequisites using this method successfully as a diagnostic tool.