Practical significance of utilizing fine needle aspiration cytology as an adjunct diagnostic aid in the preoperative presumptive diagnosis of ameloblastoma

BACKGROUND: Cytological reports of ameloblastoma are relatively rare in the literature. Appropriate cytologic diagnosis may play a significant role in its preoperative presumptive diagnosis, especially when incisional biopsy findings are inadequate. AIM: To systematically study the detailed cytomorphologic features of ameloblastoma and to evaluate the role of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in its preoperative diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, FNAC was done on 26 cases of intra-osseous jaw lesion, clinically diagnosed as odontogenic tumor or developmental odontogenic cysts and detailed cytopathological interpretation was carried out and the results were correlated with the corresponding histopathology. RESULTS: Of the 26 cases, 15 were found to be ameloblastoma and sensitivity of FNAC in the diagnosis of ameloblastoma was found to be 86.6%. None of the intra-osseous jaw lesion was false positively diagnosed as ameloblastoma in FNAC and hence the specificity was found to be 100%. CONCLUSION: Presence of cohesive epithelial cell clusters exhibiting smaller basaloid cells with peripherally placed tall columnar cells and occasional large squamous cells either adjoining the basaloid epithelial clusters or in isolated group aids in the specific cytological diagnosis of ameloblastoma and FNAC offers an excellent diagnostic aid that may play a significant role in preoperative presumptive diagnosis of ameloblastoma along with incisional biopsy.