Spectrum of thyroid lesions on fine needle aspiration cytology.

ABSTRACT

The incidence of thyroid lesions is increasing significantly nowadays. Many a times, differentiation between physiological, inflammatory, autoimmune, hyperfunctioning and hypofunctioning of thyroid gland, benign and malignant tumor poses diagnostic difficulty. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) with clinical correlation, along with ultrasonography and thyroid function tests are done in relevant cases. Final diagnosis requires morphological examination of the lesions. FNAC is widely accepted and has become the cornerstone in evaluation of the thyroid lesions, as unnecessary surgery can be avoided. We studied a total of 251 cases in the age range of 3 years to 72 years, who presented with thyroid swelling over a period of one year and got a spectrum of thyroid lesions on cytology. Incidence was more in females 230 cases (91.63%) compared to males 21 cases (8.36%). Nodular goiter was the commonest disease constituting 127 cases (50.59%) followed by Hashimoto’s thyroiditis 93 cases (33.05%) and malignancy was reported in 7 cases (2.78%). USG guided FNAC for optimization of results is necessary for the location of target lesion. Careful searching for malignant cells and repeat FNAC are the key to a successful diagnosis and to plan a proper surgical procedure. Follow-up is necessary in case of a benign mass.