Fine-Needle Aspiration of Pulmonary Hamartoma: A Common Source of False-Positive Diagnoses in the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Nongynecologic Cytology

Abstract

Abstract Context.—We use data from the College of American Pathologists Interlaboratory Comparison Program in Nongynecologic Cytology to evaluate the accuracy of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy for diagnosing pulmonary hamartoma (PH). Objective.—To use the performance characteristics of the PH cases in the Nongynecologic Cytology Program to determine the accuracy of FNA for identifying these lesions and to determine potential sources of interpretative errors. Design.—A retrospective review of the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology cumulative data from 1997 to 2003 was performed to identify the overall accuracy of FNA for diagnosing PH and to determine the most common interpretative pitfalls. The slides from each of the cases of PH in the Nongynecologic Cytology Program were then reviewed in an effort to identify the cytologic characteristics that contributed to the poor performance of these cases. Results.—A total of 766 participant responses for 19 PH FNA specimens were reviewed...