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Original ArticleOpen Access
Fine Needle Aspiration of the Thyroid Gland
Settakorn J 
,
Chaiwun B ,
Thamprasert K ,
Wisedmongkol W ,
Rangdaeng S
,
Chaiwun B ,
Thamprasert K ,
Wisedmongkol W ,
Rangdaeng S Fine needle aspiration (FNA) has become a major diagnostic triage for clinical manage-
ment of patients with a thyroid mass. Diagnostic accuracy of this procedure can be evaluated by
cyto-histologic correlation. Out of 1,761 fine needle aspirates of thyroid glands performed from
January 1996 to December 1999, 230 satisfactory specimens contained respective histologic cor-
relates. Using histologic diagnoses as the gold standard, the overall accuracy, sensitivity and speci-
ficity for cytologic diagnoses of thyroid neoplasm were 90.4 per cent, 85.7 per cent, and 92.5 per
cent respectively. The positive predictive value for diagnosing thyroid neoplasm was 83.3 per cent
while the negative predictive value was 93.7 per cent The common pairs of cyto-histological diag-
nostic discrepancy included adenomatous goiter
vs
follicular neoplasm, adenomatous goiter
vs
papillary carcinoma, and thyroiditis
vs
follicular neoplasm. In conclusion, FNA is a rapid, reliable
and safe diagnostic tool to distinguish non-neoplastic from neoplastic lesions in patients with thyroid
masses.
Key word : FNA, Cytology, Thyroid Gland
SETTAKORN
ment of patients with a thyroid mass. Diagnostic accuracy of this procedure can be evaluated by
cyto-histologic correlation. Out of 1,761 fine needle aspirates of thyroid glands performed from
January 1996 to December 1999, 230 satisfactory specimens contained respective histologic cor-
relates. Using histologic diagnoses as the gold standard, the overall accuracy, sensitivity and speci-
ficity for cytologic diagnoses of thyroid neoplasm were 90.4 per cent, 85.7 per cent, and 92.5 per
cent respectively. The positive predictive value for diagnosing thyroid neoplasm was 83.3 per cent
while the negative predictive value was 93.7 per cent The common pairs of cyto-histological diag-
nostic discrepancy included adenomatous goiter
vs
follicular neoplasm, adenomatous goiter
vs
papillary carcinoma, and thyroiditis
vs
follicular neoplasm. In conclusion, FNA is a rapid, reliable
and safe diagnostic tool to distinguish non-neoplastic from neoplastic lesions in patients with thyroid
masses.
Key word : FNA, Cytology, Thyroid Gland
SETTAKORN
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