The Bethesda System thyroid diagnostic categories in the African-American population in conjunction with surgical pathology follow-up.

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that African-Americans (AA) have a higher prevalence of overall malignancy compared to Caucasians, in the United States, yet the incidence of thyroid malignancy is half. The aim of this study is to assess the rate of malignant versus benign thyroid disease in AA from an urban-based hospital with an academic setting. Our study analyzed the AA population with respect to fine needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid lesions, in correlation with final surgical pathology. This is the first study of its kind to our knowledge. DESIGN: We retrospectively reviewed thyroid FNA cytology between January 2005 and February 2011. Consecutive FNA specimens with corresponding follow-up surgical pathology were included. The patients were categorized as African- American (AA) and Non-African-American (NAA), which included Caucasians (C), Hispanics (H), and Others (O). The FNA results were classified using the latest edition of The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBS-Thy) and the follow-up surgical pathology was used for the final categorization. RESULTS: We studied 258 cases: 144 AA (56%) and 114 NAA [43 C (17%), 3 H (1%), and 68 O (28%)]. The average age for AA was 51 years (range 20 - 88) and for NAA was 53 years (range 25 - 86). There were more females than males in the AA versus the NAA group (85 vs. 75%). The incidence of thyroid lesions in the FNA specimens was similar between these two populations. The distribution of benign versus malignant diagnosis on follow-up surgical pathology was examined across TBS-Thy class. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that distribution of benign versus malignant lesions in the thyroid FNA of AA versus NAA, with follow-up surgical pathology, is comparable for TBS-Thy classes, non-diagnostic (I), benign (II), suspicious for malignancy (V), and malignant (VI) in AA versus NAA.

Do angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers prevent diabetes mellitus? A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased exponentially in recent years, with 100 million people expected to develop diabetes in the coming 15 years. The impact of medical therapy on the incidence of new onset DM is not clear. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to study the impact of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) on the incidence of new onset DM. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, Cochrane databases from inception until February 2009 for randomized controlled trials (RCT) that reported new incident DM with ACEI or ARB therapy. A total of 18 RCT are included in this meta-analysis. A random-effect model was used and between-studies heterogeneity was estimated with I(2). RESULTS: There were 50,451 patients randomized to ACEI or ARB and 50,397 patients randomized to other therapies. ACEI/ARB use was associated with a decrease in new onset DM (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.70-0.88, p = 0.003 for ACEI and RR 0.8, 95% CI 0.75-0.86, p < 0.0001 for ARB). Treating 100 patients with ACEI or 50 patients with ARB prevents one case of new onset DM. CONCLUSIONS: The cumulative evidence suggests that the use of ACEI/ARB prevents diabetes mellitus. This finding may be of special clinical benefit in patients with hypertension and prediabetes or metabolic syndrome.

Utility of immunohistochemical markers in differentiating benign from malignant follicular-derived thyroid nodules.

BACKGROUND: Thyroid nodules are common among adults though only a small percentage is malignant, which can histologically mimic benign nodules. Accurate diagnosis of these thyroid nodules is critical for the proper clinical management. METHODS: We investigated immunoexpression in 98 surgically removed benign thyroid nodules including 52 hyperplastic nodules (HN) and 46 follicular/Hurthle cell adenomas (FA), and 54 malignant tumors including 22 follicular carcinoma (FC), 20 classic papillary carcinoma (PTC), and 12 follicular variant papillary carcinoma (FVPC). RESULTS: The staining results showed that malignant tumors express galectin-3, HBME-1, CK19 and Ret oncoprotein significantly more than benign nodules. The sensitivity of these markers for the distinction between benign and malignant lesions ranged from 83.3% to 87%. The sensitivity of two-marker panels was not significantly different. Immunoexpression was usually diffuse and strong in malignant tumors, and focal and weak in the benign lesions. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that these immunomarkers are significantly more expressed in malignant tumors compared to benign lesions and may be of additional diagnostic value when combined with routine histology.