Reparative change with extensive squamous metaplasia: a potential diagnostic pitfall on thyroid aspiration.

Squamous metaplasia and cystic change can appear in the thyroid and mimic a variety of lesions. In this report, a patient with two dominant left thyroid nodules underwent fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy for each nodule. One of the nodules was diagnosed as consistent with papillary carcinoma and the other as suspicious for papillary carcinoma. Subsequent near total thyroidectomy revealed both lesions to be part of a goiter with extensive squamous metaplasia. This article discusses a potential pitfall in the interpretation of fine needle aspirates of squamous metaplastic cells in the thyroid.

Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in the management of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND: The reported incidence of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents is estimated to be between 1% and 2%. However, this incidence may be increasing because diagnostic radiological procedures are detecting incidental thyroid nodules in children. The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration (US-FNA) of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents. METHODS: Forty-two children (mean age, 14.75 years) underwent US-FNA of 52 thyroid nodules. The specificity, sensitivity, diagnostic accuracy, and unsatisfactory rates were compared to other similar studies. RESULTS: Six patients had a cytological diagnosis of papillary thyroid cancer, which was confirmed at surgery. There were no false-negative specimens, and cytological diagnostic accuracy was 93.7%. The inadequate rate was only 1.9%. CONCLUSIONS: US-FNA of thyroid nodules in children and adolescents is highly accurate in experienced hands and is associated with a very low inadequate rate.

Comparison of palpation-guided versus ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsies of thyroid nodules in an outpatient endocrinology practice.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of thyroid ultrasonography in our outpatient endocrine practice. METHODS: We compared the efficacy of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (US-FNAB) of thyroid nodules with that of palpation-guided aspiration (P-FNAB) and determined the malignancy rates of palpable and nonpalpable nodules. All patients referred for assessment of thyroid nodular disease from October 1997 through August 2001 were included in the study. Fine-needle aspirations were performed by palpation guidance until October 1999, after which US-FNAB was exclusively performed. All thyroid examinations, ultrasound imaging, and aspiration biopsies were performed by the same endocrinologist in an office-based setting. Histopathologic and cytologic diagnoses were compared for patients who underwent thyroidectomy. RESULTS: A total of 376 nodules in 276 patients were aspirated during a 47-month period. P-FNAB was used on 157 nodules, and US-FNAB was performed on 219 nodules (both procedures were done on 21 nodules). For palpable thyroid nodules that were resected, the cytologic diagnostic accuracy rate was 60.9% and 80% for P-FNAB and US-FNAB, respectively. With use of ultrasound guidance, the sensitivity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value increased significantly. In addition, the inadequate specimen rate decreased from 11.2% in the P-FNAB group to 7.1% in the US-FNAB group. Among the nodules that were not palpable, the malignancy rate was similar to that for the palpable thyroid nodules (5.1% versus 6.8%). CONCLUSION: US-FNAB improved the cytologic diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and positive predictive value and reduced the false-negative rate in comparison with P-FNAB. The malignancy rate for nonpalpable thyroid nodules was similar to that for palpable nodules.

Resident perceptions of the impact of work-hour restrictions on health care delivery and surgical education: time for transformational change.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has recently enacted an 80-hour workweek, which has been in effect in New York State for several years. We surveyed surgical residents from all four State University of New York (SUNY) surgical programs to determine their perceptions of the impact of the 80-hour workweek on patient care, surgical education, and personal life. METHODS: A survey instrument to address the three areas of concern was developed and administered to all surgical residents at the four SUNY programs. Anonymity of the responders was maintained. Responses to the questions were in numeric rank scores and were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square analysis, and analysis of variance. RESULTS: Response rate was 59%. Factors perceived to be affected negatively by the residents were continuity and safety of care, their operative experience, and their relations with attendings. The factors affected positively were increased personal time and decreased fatigue at work. Interestingly, the latter did not appear to decrease the rate of medical errors in their perception. CONCLUSIONS: The 80-hour workweek has the potential to have adverse effects on patient care despite improving the level of fatigue at work. Reengineering the surgical residencies will be needed to take full advantage of the restricted work hours.

Intraoperative needle localization during neck reexploration.

BACKGROUND: Recurrent cervical adenopathy can be difficult to identify intraoperatively during a neck reexploration. Although local preoperative imaging techniques are available, these are not useful in the operative theater. METHODS: We introduce an intraoperative technique of ultrasound-guided needle localization to identify and guide the resection of suspicious cervical lymphadenopathy. CONCLUSIONS: This intraoperative approach to localizing the suspicious lymph node under ultrasound-guided needle localization makes surgical extirpation of lymph node metastasis easy.