Mathematical modelling can predict adequacy rates and needle passes for fine needle aspiration cytology with rapid on-site evaluation

摘要

ObjectiveFine needle aspiration is widely used to obtain tissue samples. There are two types of sampling processes: fixed and variable. In fixed sampling, the samples are not observed for adequacy during the sampling process. In variable sampling, samples are evaluated for adequacy as they are received, and sampling is stopped as soon as an adequate sample is obtained. Each sample involves a risk of harm to the patient, and so limits are often imposed on the number of samples. The impact of such limits has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of sampling limits on the adequacy rate.