Cell block preparation as an adjunctive tool after fine-needle aspiration cytology for screening oral and maxillofacial diseases

Abstract

To describe the use of cell block (CB) preparation from fine-needle aspiration cytology for diagnosing oral and maxillofacial diseases. We performed a retrospective analysis of 568 samples collected by our laboratory for CB preparation from fine-needle aspiration cytology of the oral and maxillofacial region between January 2001 and October 2021. We performed cytologic diagnoses and compared them with the available histopathologic diagnoses to calculate the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of CB preparation for identifying malignant lesions. The most frequent diagnosis was pleomorphic adenoma (n=44, 7.7%), followed by metastatic squamous-cell carcinoma (n=28, 4.9%) and odontogenic keratocyst (n=26, 4.6%). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy of CB preparation, which revealed detailed morphologic and architectural patterns, were 70.0%, 100.0%, 100.0%, 62.5%, and 80.0%, respectively. Cell block preparation from fine-needle aspiration cytology of the oral and maxillofacial region may be a useful adjunctive diagnostic tool for diagnosing oral and maxillofacial diseases because it reveals morphologic and architectural patterns similar to those shown on histopathologic slides, leading to the better categorization of diseases.