Ultrasonographic fine-needle aspiration of pathological masses in the head and neck region.

Two hundred and eight ultrasonographic fine-needle aspiration biopsies were performed in patients with head and neck masses and examined cytologically. The average minimum diameter of the masses was 1.5 cm. The smallest punctured lymph node located in the perivascular sheath had a diameter of 0.4 cm. In none of the patients were complications observed. Ninety-seven percent of the diagnoses based on cytological examination were confirmed in the histological examination of surgical biopsies or in the further clinical course.