Breast Fine Needle Aspiration

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Non-Gynae Cytopathology

Biopsy of palpable or impalpable lesions may be performed, the latter requiring stereotactic location.

Label slides before aspiration, Use pencil only; label with surname, forename, date of birth and/or hospital number.

Material obtained should be expelled onto one slide and spread thinly to dry immediately.
Do not fix.
Load the slide into a transport box and place in a specimen bag together with the form and forward to the laboratory.
IT IS FAR BETTER TO MAKE SEVERAL THIN SMEARS THAN ONE THICK SMEAR, which takes a long time to dry.
If the aspiration yields copious material e.g. blood or cyst contents, then this is better expelled from the syringe into a sterile universal container for processing in the laboratory rather than preparation into direct smears.
If a lesion yields more than a minimal amount of fluid then the specimen is better treated as a cyst aspirate.
A reasonable number of epithelial cells are required for a specimen to be considered adequate.

Store at room temperature.
Transport as soon as possible at room temperature.

All samples must be accompanied by a yellow non gynae cytology request form. The completion of the form and the labelling of the sample must conform to the Labelling of Specimens and Request forms by Pathology Service Users.

Routine non-gynaecological samples will be reported within 5 working days.
In cases when more complex pathology requires further laboratory investigations or referral for expert opinion a provisional report will be issued within the above time scale to be followed by a further complete supplementary report.
Urgent non-gynaecoloigcal samples will be reported within one working day of receipt.
For a sample to be treated as urgent the laboratory must be notified on Cheltenham telephone number 0300 422 4219.