Malignant seeding of the tract after thin-needle aspiration biopsy

Abstract

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is an established technique for cytodiagnosis of malignant neoplasms, yielding a high rate of positive tissue with negligible local sequelae. The authors report the first instance known to them of needle tract seeding following this biopsy technique in a patient with an unresectable pancreatic carcinoma. Because of the rarity of this occurrence, the procedural indications remain unaltered.