STUDY TO KNOW THE COMPARISON OF DIAGNOSITIC RESULTS OF FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION (FNAC) CYTOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY FOR THYROID NODULES ASSESSMENT

Objective: For the fast thyroid lesions diagnosis, the cost-effective procedure is considered as Fine needle aspiration. On daily basis, fine needle aspiration has decreased unnecessary surgical rate for thyroid nodules. This analysis was performed to know the fine needle aspiration biopsy accuracy. Study Design: A Cross-sectional Study. Place and Duration: In the Pathology and Surgery Department of Services Hospital Lahore for four duration from January 2014 to January 2018. Methodology: we examined 600 cytology reports of thyroid fine needle aspiration during 4 years (2014-2018) in the pathology and Surgery departments. In 28 cases, Pathological diagnosis is available. Cytological reports were analyzed, histological and cytological correlations were evaluated. Using SPSS 18, Statistical analysis and descriptive tests were done. Results: The cytological diagnosis of 600 cases (90 male, 510 female) was as follows: 28 (4.7%) malignant, 526 (87.7%) benign, suspicious in 10 (1.6%) and insufficient biopsy in 36 (6%). The papillary cell carcinomas are the most common malignant lesions, and follicular adenoma and goitre are benign lesions. In women, Malignant nodules were found frequently than in men (5.0% to 3.4%). We could not detect false positive results between histopathology and malignant FNAC, so 100% positive predictive value was observed. Conclusion: In thyroid gland, Fine needle aspiration is very sensitive and in malignant form the rate of false positive results was low. Key Words: Thyroid nodule, Accuracy, FNAC