Fine Needle Aspiration Doctor in Long Beach, CA
Waiting weeks for a biopsy can cause unnecessary stress and worry.
If you have been told you need a thyroid, breast, lymph node, or salivary gland biopsy, you deserve answers quickly. At Dr. Celina Nadelman’s Beverly Hills office, we offer next-day Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) biopsies for patients from Long Beach, CA and surrounding areas.
Dr. Nadelman is a board-certified cytopathologist who performs and interprets every biopsy herself. This ensures maximum accuracy and a seamless patient experience from start to finish.
While large hospitals often take weeks to return results, most of Dr. Nadelman’s patients receive preliminary results within 24 hours. If you want a fast, precise, and minimally invasive biopsy performed by an expert, schedule your appointment today.
Expert Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies for Long Beach Patients
Fine Needle Aspiration is a safe, quick, and minimally invasive procedure that uses a thin needle to collect cells from a lump or nodule for microscopic evaluation. It is recommended for diagnosing and evaluating:
- Thyroid nodules to distinguish between benign and malignant growths
- Breast lumps to assess cysts, fibroadenomas, or possible cancer
- Lymph nodes to detect infections, lymphoma, or metastatic disease
- Salivary gland masses to determine if a tumor is benign or malignant
Dr. Nadelman performs both ultrasound-guided and palpation-guided FNAs to ensure optimal precision and patient comfort. Every sample is reviewed in her on-site laboratory, which prevents delays and avoids errors that can occur with outside labs.
STEPS TO YOUR BIOPSY
In order to determine whether a lump is malignant, cancerous cells from the area must be examined under a microscope. Those cells can be obtained with a surgical biopsy or an FNA biopsy. An FNA biopsy is done in a doctor’s office with a very thin needle. Not only can the appointment be made within days, it is much less uncomfortable, and has less risk of bleeding or trauma to the tissue.From the patient’s perspective, an FNA is faster, can be performed in a doctor’s office, is less expensive and there is less tissue trauma than with a more invasive surgical biopsy.
Why Long Beach Patients Choose Dr. Nadelman
Patients from Long Beach often choose Dr. Nadelman because of her ability to combine fast access to care with the highest level of diagnostic accuracy. She understands that waiting for answers can be one of the most stressful times in a patient’s life, and she is committed to delivering clarity as quickly as possible.
Unlike many large hospitals or imaging centers, her process offers:
- Next-day appointments in most cases
- Preliminary results within 24 hours
- Direct access to the doctor performing and interpreting your biopsy
- A single, straightforward bill without hidden lab fees
This approach eliminates unnecessary delays, provides peace of mind, and allows patients to move forward with treatment decisions sooner.
What to Expect at Your Appointment
When you arrive for your appointment, Dr. Nadelman will review your medical history and discuss your concerns. She will then perform a physical examination and use real time ultrasound imaging to evaluate the lump or nodule in question.
If an FNA is the best next step, the procedure can usually be performed during the same visit. It takes only minutes, requires only local anesthesia, and most patients return to normal activities immediately afterward.
Get more details here:
FAQ’s on Fine Needle Aspiration
Fine Needle Aspiration is a method of taking a small amount of tissue from a lump in the body. A very thin needle is inserted into the lump and tissue is dislodged by movement of the needle and/or by gentle suction. The tissue is then examined microscopically by a pathologist. The pathologist will make a diagnosis (find out the cause of the lump) and send a report to your doctor.
No, the procedure is completely painless. However, the needles used in FNA are very thin. Also, for your comfort, local anesthesia is often used before the FNA. If you are sore after the procedure, a simple pain reliever such as Tylenol (no nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, i.e. Advil) or an ice pack may alleviate mild symptoms.
Most doctors consider FNA to be a very good test. Overall, it is about 90-95% accurate when the aspiration and interpretation are done by an experienced cytopathologist. There is a small chance (usually less than 10%, depending on the size, location and nature of the lump) that the FNA will not be interpreted as cancer when cancer is there. Very rarely (usually less than 1% of the cases), FNA may be falsely interpreted as cancer when cancer is not there. Your doctor will use the results of the FNA and other clinical information to determine if further tests or treatment are necessary.
As with any procedure in which the skin is broken (like having your blood drawn), there is always a risk of pain, bleeding, bruising or slight tenderness at the aspiration site. Very rarely, an infection may occur after an FNA. However, the benefits of the FNA far outweigh the risks.
The alternative is to do a surgical biopsy, which is done with a much larger needle or by an operation. Surgery is more invasive, has more complications, and may take a while to schedule. A FNA is simpler, less expensive, has fewer complications and faster.
Generally, you may engage in your normal activities, including eating and drinking before and after the procedure. The only special precaution is to avoid taking anything that would increase bleeding such as aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), such as Advil, Ibuprofen, Motrin, Alieve, fish oil, vitamin E, etc., from about a week before the appointment (or the time your appointment is made), to a few days after the procedure. This may be helpful in limiting any additional bruising from the procedure. Moreover, you may resume normal activities immediately after the procedure.
Depending on what type of lesion (lump) it is and where it is in the body, the actual biopsy takes only a few minutes. However, since the FNA is being performed by a cytopathologist, (Dr. Nadelman), the material is checked immediately under the microscope as you wait, to ensure that there is enough material to make a diagnosis later on. This is done to decrease the chance of having to come back for a repeat FNA because of not enough material. Due to this, the procedure may take up to 45 minutes (per site).
After the biopsy sample has been obtained and you have left the office, all the slides prepared will be thoroughly examined and interpreted by the cytopathologist, Dr. Nadelman. A preliminary report can be telephoned to your doctor shortly after the FNA procedure (often within 24 hours). Because of the detailed evaluation involved and the possibility of additional studies, a final written report may require a few days (2-4 days) to complete, but is usually done in 48 hours. Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) is a diagnostic part of a complete evaluation of the specific site of concern indicated by your referring doctor. Therefore, the results will be given to your doctor and should be discussed with him or her. If you would like to receive your results directly, in addition, you may make a follow up appointment with Dr. Nadelman. Our goal is to care for you in the best, most efficient, yet personalized manner. If you have any further questions please contact us.
Yes, we accept Medicare and most PPO plans. Contact our office to confirm. 310.789.2046
Dr. Nadelman Serves Patients from Long Beach, CA
If you live in Long Beach and need a Fine Needle Aspiration biopsy, Dr. Nadelman offers advanced diagnostic care just a short drive away in Beverly Hills. Call 310.742.1979 to schedule an appointment today.
Directions from Long Beach to Dr. Nadelman’s Office:
Office Address: 8670 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 200, Beverly Hills, CA 90211
- Take I-405 N toward Los Angeles.
- Merge onto I-105 W toward El Segundo.
- Take the exit onto I-405 N again toward Santa Monica
- Merge onto I-10 E toward Los Angeles.
- Exit at Robertson Blvd and head north.
- Turn right onto Wilshire Blvd.
- Arrive at Dr. Nadelman’s office in Beverly Hills.
Skip the Long Wait Times
Choosing Dr. Nadelman means avoiding long delays, crowded hospital systems, and multiple appointments. With her streamlined process, you can be seen quickly, have your biopsy performed, and receive preliminary results in most cases within 24 hours.
Call today to schedule your consultation and take the first step toward clarity and peace of mind.
