Publication:

Comparative study of fine needle aspiration cytology and histopathology of thyroid swellings in tertiary health centre

Background Thyroid swelling being the most common presentation in ENT clinical practice, a prospective study was done to assess the role of Fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosing the nature of thyroid swellings and comparing its results with histopathological examination findings.

Methods This is a prospective institutional based study comparing cytology and corresponding histopathology findings reported in 60 cases of thyroid swelling. The statistical analysis included sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy in thyroid swelling.

Results Out of 60 cases, FNAC showed 93.3% and 6.6% of benign and malignant cases respectively whereas HPE showed 86.7% and 13.3% of benign and malignant cases respectively. On FNAC-HPE correlation using HPE as standard reference the diagnostic accuracy of present study is 91.66%.

Conclusions It was observed that FNAC is a reliable tool, safe and accurate method in evaluating thyroid swelling thus having great influences in treatment decision. Thus FNAC is the investigation of choice in thyroid swellings with excellent patient compliance, simple, safe and cost effective.