Optimal timing of repeat thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy
-
Mevra Cay
,
Ihsan Turan
,
Eda Mengen
,
Ayse Merve Çimen
,
Şükriye Tuğçe Celebi
and
Bilgin Yüksel
Abstract
Objectives
The objective of this study is to determine the optimal interval between repeat thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies in children and adolescents and to evaluate whether this has any impact on the final pathological diagnosis.
Methods
The sample of this retrospective single-center study consisted of 99 patients who had thyroid nodules and underwent thyroid ultrasonography (USG) and FNA biopsy between 2013 and 2023. The interval between FNA biopsies as well as biopsy and surgical cytology results were recorded for each patient.
Results
The mean age of the sample, 70.7 % of which were females, was 14.04 ± 3.29 years. According to the initial FNA biopsy results, 46.5 % of thyroid nodules were identified as benign, 24.2 % as nondiagnostic, 10.1 % as atypia of undetermined significance, 8.1 % as follicular neoplasm, 6.1 % as suspicious for malignancy, and 5.1 % as malignancy. It was decided to perform thyroidectomy in 34 patients.
Conclusions
The false-negative rate (6.5 %) we found in patients with a benign initial FNA cytology was slightly higher than the rate stated in the guidelines. Additionally, we determined that performing early (<3 months) repeat FNA biopsy for nondiagnostic nodules did not affect the diagnostic yield of subsequent samples. Therefore, we concluded that repeat FNA biopsy should not be delayed longer than 3 months in nondiagnostic nodules with suspicious USG findings and no longer than 6 months in benign nodules with suspicious USG findings. A shorter interval between FNA biopsies will allow for more timely surgical intervention, especially in patients with malignancy in nondiagnostic and benign nodules.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Department of Nuclear Medicine for their expertise in performing ultrasound-guided FNA biopsies and the Department of Pathology for cytological evaluations. We appreciate the support of the pediatric endocrinology clinical staff in patient care coordination.
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Research ethics: This study received approval from the Cukurova University Faculty of Medicine Ethics Committee (Reference number: 2024/143-20) and followed the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Informed consent: Written informed consent was obtained from all patients’ parents or legal guardians for the use of clinical data in research, following institutional protocols.
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Author contributions: The research team collaborated throughout all study phases. The pediatric endocrinologists developed the study concept and conducted data collection. The nuclear medicine specialists performed ultrasound examinations and biopsies. The pathology team evaluated cytological specimens. Statistical analysis and manuscript preparation involved all authors’ input.
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Use of Large Language Models, AI and Machine Learning Tools: None declared.
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Conflict of interest: The authors declare no financial or nonfinancial conflicts of interest in relation to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.
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Research funding: None declared.
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Data availability: The datasets analyzed during this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to privacy restrictions for protected health information.
References
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Review
- A recent update on childhood obesity: aetiology, treatment and complications
- Original Articles
- Chronotype, sleep, and glycemic control in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a case-control study
- Determinants of childhood and adolescent obesity and it’s effect on metabolism in South Indian population
- Evaluation of continuous glucose monitoring and nutritional status in glycogen storage diseases
- Retrospective assessment of hepatic involvement in patients with inherited metabolic disorders: nine-year single-center experience
- Relationships among biological sex, body composition, and bone mineral density in young persons with and without diabetes
- The clinical characteristics of 10 cases and adult height of six cases of rare familial male-limited precocious puberty
- Optimal timing of repeat thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy
- Medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency in North Macedonia – ten years experience
- The effect of antenatal steroids on metabolic bone disease of prematurity
- Prader-Willi syndrome gene expression profiling of obese and non-obese patients reveals transcriptional changes in CLEC4D and ANXA3
- Early-onset growth hormone treatment in Prader–Willi syndrome attenuates transition to severe obesity
- Case Reports
- Neonatal severe hyperparathyroidism with inactivating calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) mutation (p.I81K)
- Clinical manifestations and molecular genetics of seven patients with Niemann–Pick type-C: a case series with a novel variant
- Expanding the genotypic spectrum of 3β-hydroxy-δ5-C27-steroid dehydrogenase (HSD3B7) deficiency: novel mutations and clinical outcomes
