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CC BY 4.0 · Libyan International Medical University Journal 2024; 09(01): 042-046
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1787269
Original Article

Perioperative Diagnosis of Thyroid Lesions through Fine-Needle Aspiration: A Clinicopathological Retrospective Analysis

Haitham H. Elmatri
1   Biomedical Sciences-AMS, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, Libya
,
Nabeia Ali Gheryani
2   Department of pathology, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Rema H. Faraj Saad 
1   Biomedical Sciences-AMS, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, Libya
2   Department of pathology, University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
,
Abeer H. A. Amer 
1   Biomedical Sciences-AMS, Libyan International Medical University, Benghazi, Libya
3   Department of histology , University of Benghazi, Benghazi, Libya
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background Thyroid lesions are a worldwide common clinical problem. Majority of thyroid nodules are benign whereas less than 5% are malignant. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a commonly used method in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions with some limitations.

Aim The objective was to assess the precision of FNAC in identifying thyroid lesions.

Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 62 patients with thyroid lesions who underwent preoperative FNAC followed by surgical resection. Data collection took place from January 2017 to December 2022 and included demographic information such as age, gender, and chief complaint. Cytological and histopathologic diagnoses were obtained from pathology reports. The correlation between histopathological diagnosis and preoperative FNAC results was assessed for each patient in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy. The data were presented as frequencies and percentages.

Results The diagnosis by FNAC was correlated with histopathology. The analysis showed that FNAC had a sensitivity of 94%, specificity of 91%, PPV of 80%, and NPV of 97%. However, the overall accuracy in this study was determined to be 92%.

Conclusion As a tool for the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid lesions, FNAC was proved in our laboratory to be sensitive and specific with a high accuracy rate.

Keywords

fine-needle aspiration cytology - FNAC - histopathology - thyroid lesions


Publication History

Received: 18 February 2024

Accepted: 04 May 2024

Article published online:
27 June 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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