Noshin Wasim Yusuf, Shameem Jafri, Gulsana Masood, Safdar Ali Malik.
The Diagnostic Role of Targeted Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Liver in Malignant Focal Mass Lesions -A Cytohistological Correlation.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;10(3):109-12.

In this prospective study 50 consecutive cases of focal hepatic masses were subjected to ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) to evaluate its diagnostic efficacy in differentiating primary and secondary hepatic neoplasms (Hepatocellular carcinoma versus Metastatic deposits). In the present series 33 cases of histologically confirmed neoplastic lesions were encountered including 24 (82.3%) cases of metastatic deposits and 9(17.7%) of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The sensitivity of FNAC for diagnosis of metastasis was found to be 100% and specificity was 84.6%. No false-ve cases were reported. However, morphological overlap with poorly differentiated HCC resulted in 16.6% false positive results. In cases of hepatocellular carcinoma, 66.6% false negative rate was recorded, maximum discrepancy was encountered in the category of well differentiated and poorly differentiated HCC. Considering that HCC is common in our part of the world, a better expertise is needed for its cytological diagnosis in order to help the clinicians in planning and management of this focal mass and the common lesion of metastasis.

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