Abstract

Fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) has become a popular method for the diagnosis of a wide variety of both superficial and deep-seated lesions. However, there are few reports about the potential of FNAC for the diagnosis of intraoral lesions. We experienced 44 FNACs from intraoral lesions at Asan Medical Center: 22 from the palate, 6 from the tongue, 5 from the parapharyngeal space, 5 from the lip, 2 from the floor of mouth, 1 from the buccal mucosa, and 3 from other intraoral sites. Histological confirmation was obtained in 32 cases and we analyzed 27 cases excluding 5 cases of inadequate aspirates. Diagnosis was specifically made in 19 of 27 cases(70%) including 1 mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 1 undifferentiated carcinoma, 1 chordoma, 9 pleomorphic adenomas, 1 neurofibroma, and 6 benign lesions. There were three false negative cases(sensitivity, 62.5%) and no false positive cases(specificity, 100%): Two cases diagnosed as "cystic lesion" were confirmed to be mucoepidermoid carcinomas and a case diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma was proved to be adenoid cystic carcinoma. The results of our study suggest that FNAC is a useful technique in the diagnosis of intraoral lesion.

• Keywords: Fine needle aspiration cytology;Intraoral lesion