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Diagnosing a parotid lump: fine needle aspiration cytology or core biopsy?

Department of Radiology, Eastbourne District General Hospital, Kings Drive, Eastbourne, East Sussex BN21 2UD, UK

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been widely adopted for the cytological diagnosis of parotid lumps. FNAC does have drawbacks, even under optimum conditions and may be associated with poor levels of diagnostic accuracy, particularly outside the specialized clinic environment. Ultrasound-guided core biopsy (USCB) is a relatively recently described technique in the parotid gland which has been well tolerated and has demonstrated a high degree of diagnostic accuracy in several studies. This article discusses the merits and pitfalls of FNAC, together with the technique of USCB and also highlights the potential advantages benefit provided by USCB in parotid diagnosis.