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Evaluation of fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules
Author(s) -
HOLLEMAN F.,
HOEKSTRA J. B. L.,
RUITENBERG H. M.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1365-2303
pISSN - 0956-5507
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2303.1995.tb00470.x
Subject(s) - medicine , thyroid nodules , cytology , predictive value , thyroid , fine needle aspiration , radiology , predictive value of tests , biopsy , pathology
FNA cytology of 112 patients with thyroid nodules seen in a 5‐year period in a general hospital setting, and the histology obtained from the 53 operated patients, were retrospectively analysed. the inadequacy rate of FNA cytology was 11%, sensitivity was 84% (16/19), specificity was 52% (15/29), positive predictive value was 53% (16/30) and negative predictive value was 83% (15/18). Extrapolating these figures to the whole study group a negative predictive value of 95% is put forward as a more realistic figure. the results and the clinical pitfalls of the use of FNA cytology in diagnosing thyroid nodules are discussed. the authors conclude that FNA cytology is a reliable first diagnostic step in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules, even in a general hospital setting.