Early diagnosis of a myriad of benign and malignant diseases (presenting as swellings) affecting the head and neck provides the best chance for successful treatment. Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) is an expedient and cost-effective method to sample these masses and is the primary biopsy method for thyroid and salivary glands and a useful approach to evaluate lymph nodes. The majority of practicing pathologists have not completed formal fellowship training in cytopathology and do not have a diagnostic paradigm for these relatively common specimen types. This course is intended to help close the gap by building a strong foundation in head and neck cytopathology and familiarizing attendees with the common diagnostic challenges encountered when evaluating FNA specimens from the thyroid, salivary glands and lymph nodes. The outcome should be an increase in the number of definitive diagnoses, reduction in equivocal diagnoses, and mitigation of repeat FNA or subsequent invasive procedures. The target audience is general pathologists with an interest in cytopathology, pathology residents and fellows, surgical pathology fellows and cytopathology fellows.

Course Location: Palm Springs, CA
Course Directors: Elham Khanafshar, M.D., MS and Britt-Marie E. Ljung, M.D.