Objective: To evaluate the role of the fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the study of parotid masses.
Methods: Retrospective review of FNAB results compared with final histological diagnosis in 148 patients with a parotid mass from 1993 to 2003.
Results: FNAB was performed in 93.92% of parotid masses. Eleven of these were not conclusive. The FNAB diagnosis of malignant o suspicious lesion had 81.25% of sensibility, 96.87% of specificity and positive and negative predictive values of 89.65% and 93.94%, respectively. The FNAB specific histopathologic diagnosis in the benign parotid masses were 92%, and 57.69% in the malignant masses.
Conclusions: FNAB is a diagnostic tool with a high negative predictive value, very usotul in the study of suspicious malignant parotid masses and whenever surgery is not possible.