ABSTRACT
Objectives: To determine the diagnostic value of fine needle aspiration cytology in the diagnosis of solid solitary thyroid nodules
Patients and Methods: This study was conducted at the department of Ear, Nose, Throat, Head and Neck surgery at Postgraduate Medical Institute Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar. This was cross-sectional comparative study. The duration of the study was one year from June 17, 2010 to June 16, 2011. The sample size was 82 patients with solid solitary thyroid nodule, fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Fine needle aspirations were performed in all cases and compared with open biopsies taking as gold standard
Results: Our study included 82 cases consisting of 57 [69.51%] female and 25 [30.48 %] male, with female: male ratio of 2.28: 1. The age of the patients was ranged from 16-65 years with mean age of 42.56 +/- S.D 11.60 years. Most of the patients presented in 3rd and 4th decade followed by the 5th and 2nd decade. The diagnostic yield of fine needle aspiration cytology [FNAC] in this study was accuracy 82.92%, sensitivity 88.09%, specificity 77.50% and positive predictive value was 80.43% that supported our hypothesis
Conclusion: FNAC is a primary diagnostic tool for solitary thyroid nodule because it is simple, safe, quick, reliable, minimally invasive, and cost effective