Death within 30 days of fine needle aspiration: Post-mortem confirmation of FNA diagnoses and the contribution of FNA to patient mortality

摘要

BackgroundFine needle aspiration (FNA) diagnoses are usually confirmed via surgical pathology or via evaluation of clinical outcomes. However, such confirmation may not occur for patients who die shortly after FNA, and autopsy may be a useful quality assessment tool in these cases. Also, there is little data investigating the relationship between FNA and mortality. We sought to demonstrate the autopsy as a quality assessment tool for the FNA and assess the contribution of FNA to mortality in patients who die soon after the procedure.