Abstract
We set out to investigate the concordance rates that were observed between fine needle
aspiration cytology (FNA) compared with that of the post operative histology obtained
for thyroid nodules over an 8 year period at a large university hospital.
A retrospective analysis of 355 cases was conducted; patients operated for hyperthyroidism
were excluded for the purposes of this study. We identified malignancy in a total
of 101 cases (28%) The chance of malignancy with 2 Thy1 specimens was 5% in this study
and 9% was observed in those with a Thy 2 FNA. On the converse, 7% of patient had
malignant cytology on FNA though post-operative histology turned out to be benign.
This therefore highlights the potential for discordance between thyroid FNA cytology
and post-operative histology in the assessment of any thyroid nodule and thus reinforcing
the need for a multidisciplinary approach in the assessment of all thyroid nodules.
Key words
thyroid - graves-disease - cancer
