Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules
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Taskin Erkinuresin
Abstract
Background
Routine application of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has decreased unnecessary referral of thyroid nodules for surgical treatment and has also increased the cancer rates found in surgery materials. Success of thyroid FNAC depends on skilled aspiration, skilled cytological interpretation and rational analysis of cytological and clinical data. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy rates of thyroid FNAC results obtained in our institution.
Methods
The data from FNAC and thyroidectomy reports of patients presenting with goiter and who had been evaluated from 1st January 2014 to 1st March 2018 were used. There were 149 patients in total who had undergone thyroidectomy following FNAC. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology was used in all cytological diagnoses.
Results
The sensitivity of thyroid FNAC for malignant cases was 57.89%, specificity was 88.10%, false-positive rate was 11.90%, false-negative rate was 42.11%, positive predictive value was 52.38%, negative predictive value was 90.24% and accuracy rate was 82.52%. “Focus number” variable was detected as the factor that affected the accurate prediction of FNAC and thyroidectomy results by the pathologist.
Conclusions
This study showed that there was a moderate conformity between thyroid FNAC and thyroidectomy cyto-histopathological diagnosis in malignant cases. As two or more nodules have a negative effect on the physician’s diagnosis of malignant nodules, we think that a more sensitive approach is needed in the determination of these cases. Sampling defects may affect this non-matching.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Learning and teaching aren’t the same – the need for diagnosis curricula in graduate medical education
- Mini Review
- Controversies in diagnosis: contemporary debates in the diagnostic safety literature
- Opinion Paper
- Balancing confidence and humility in the diagnostic process
- Point/Counterpoints
- Roots of the total testing process
- Total testing process: roots and state-of-the-art
- Original Articles
- Embedding a longitudinal diagnostic reasoning curriculum in a residency program using a bolus/booster approach
- Structured case reviews for organizational learning about diagnostic vulnerabilities: initial experiences from two medical centers
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- Perspectives from the other side of the screen: how clinicians and radiologists communicate about diagnostic errors
- Routine coagulation testing in Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes filled at minimum or optimal volume
- Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules
- Letter to the Editor
- The day God created man
- Case Reports
- Entamoeba histolytica liver abscess case: could stool PCR avoid it?
- A rare cause of subclinical hypothyroidism: macro-thyroid-stimulating hormone
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Learning and teaching aren’t the same – the need for diagnosis curricula in graduate medical education
- Mini Review
- Controversies in diagnosis: contemporary debates in the diagnostic safety literature
- Opinion Paper
- Balancing confidence and humility in the diagnostic process
- Point/Counterpoints
- Roots of the total testing process
- Total testing process: roots and state-of-the-art
- Original Articles
- Embedding a longitudinal diagnostic reasoning curriculum in a residency program using a bolus/booster approach
- Structured case reviews for organizational learning about diagnostic vulnerabilities: initial experiences from two medical centers
- Breakdowns in the initial patient-provider encounter are a frequent source of diagnostic error among ischemic stroke cases included in a large medical malpractice claims database
- Perspectives from the other side of the screen: how clinicians and radiologists communicate about diagnostic errors
- Routine coagulation testing in Vacutainer® Citrate Plus tubes filled at minimum or optimal volume
- Diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules
- Letter to the Editor
- The day God created man
- Case Reports
- Entamoeba histolytica liver abscess case: could stool PCR avoid it?
- A rare cause of subclinical hypothyroidism: macro-thyroid-stimulating hormone
