The role of liquid-based cytology in the investigation of thyroid lesions

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates the role of liquid-based cytology by ThinPrep® technique in the detection of thyroid lesions. Methods: In all, 252 specimens from 157 patients for pre-operative evaluation of thyroid nodules, prepared by the ThinPrep®, were examined. In all cases thyroidectomy followed the initial cytological evaluation. All cytological diagnoses were correlated to the histological ones. Results: According to our findings, a sensitivity of 87.80%, a specificity of 99.50%, a positive predictive value of 97.30%, a negative predictive value of 97.56% and an overall accuracy of 97.52% were observed in fine needle aspiration cytology in correlation to the histological diagnosis after thyroidectomy. Conclusions: ThinPrep® technique is a valid method for the pre-operative cytological diagnosis of thyroid nodules, offering the possibility of ancillary techniques, such as immunocytochemical and molecular methods and can, therefore, be potentially complementary to histological evaluation for further investigation of follicular lesions. © 2007 The Authors.