[Fine-needle aspiration cytology of tumors of major salivary glands].

Between 1986 and 1997, 124 patients with tumors of major salivary glands (93 parotid tumors, 31 submandibular gland tumors) were assessed by fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The 124 cases included 28 cases of primary malignant tumors and 96 cases of benign lesions. The preoperative fine-needle diagnoses were compared with postoperative pathologic findings. Sensitivity for malignancy was 64%, and specificity was 99%. Overall accuracy was 91%, and the predictive value for malignancy was 95%. FNAC allowed determination of histogenesis in 13 (68%) of the 19 cases cytologically diagnosed as malignant, and in 72 (71%) of the 105 cases cytologically diagnosed as benign. The diagnostic accuracy for histologic diagnosis of malignant neoplasms, pleomorphic adenoma, and Warthin's tumor was 46%, 73%, and 82%, respectively. The predictive value for specific histologic diagnosis of malignancy, pleomorphic adenoma, and Warthin's tumor was 100%, 91%, and 100%, respectively. The diagnostic accuracy and the predictive value for histologic diagnoses were relatively high (> 70%) for squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, malignant lymphoma, pleomorphic adenoma, and Warthin's tumor. Adenoid cystic carcinoma and low-grade malignancies such as mucoepidermiod carcinoma and acinic cell carcinoma were the lesions most frequently misdiagnosed.