Fine needle aspiration of the
thyroid gland, followed by cytological studies and their correlation with histopathological
diagnosis have been undertaken to assess the
effectiveness of
fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosing disorders of this gland. The cases in which discrepancies had arisen between these two
methods of
diagnosis have also been reviewed. Out of the total 100
patients studied, 28 were cases of simple
colloid goitre, 17 of adenomatoid goitre, 10 of
autoimmune thyroiditis ranging from
lymphocytic thyroiditis to Hashimoto's
thyroiditis, 28 of follicular
neoplasia, 10 of
papillary carcinoma, one of
medullary carcinoma, 2 of
anaplastic carcinoma and 4 of cystic lesions of the
thyroid gland. Although,
fine needle aspiration cytology of the
thyroid gland was diagnostic in 75% of cases, it did not correlate with the histopathological
diagnosis in the remaining 25% of cases. Possible reasons behind these discrepancies have been discussed.