Aspiration biopsy of prostate.

Needle biopsy of the prostate has been widely practiced for more than twenty-five years, whereas transrectal aspiration biopsy, first described fifty years ago, has not. We describe our experience using the transrectal aspiration biopsy and correlate the results with histologic studies of the prostate obtained by conventional needle biopsy and surgical specimens. Aspiration needle biopsy of the prostate has a high degree of diagnostic accuracy, it causes minimal inconvenience and discomfort, the results are rapidly available, the ease of entering the suspected area in the prostate is more precise than with conventional needle biopsy, and sampling of prostate can be greater. The disadvantages of aspiration biopsy are that the technique, being unfamiliar to most urologists, must be learned and requires an experienced cytologist for interpretation. Cytologic evaluation by aspiration biopsy and the histologic diagnosis by conventional needle biopsy are complementary.