Fine needle aspiration of the abnormal prostate: a cytohistological correlation.

Cytological diagnosis by fine needle aspiration of the prostate was compared to histological diagnosis by either perineal needle biopsy or transurethral prostatic resection in 110 patients suspected to have prostatic cancer by rectal examination. Of the 94 prostatic aspirations that could be given a definite cytological diagnosis there was histological correlation in 85 (90.4 per cent). The false negative rate was 2.7 per cent for fine needle aspiration and 5.3 per cent for perineal needle biopsy. Inadequate cytological samples occurred mainly at the beginning of the study. There was a 69 per cent correlation in 36 cases in which cytological grading was compared to histological grading. Our results indicate that fine needle aspiration is an easily performed, diagnostically reliable outpatient procedure with minimal complications that also can be used for grading purposes.