ABSTRACT
Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been shown to be second only to surgical biopsy for demonstration of malignancy in thyroid nodules. A prospective study of FNAC for euthyroid uninodular goiter (EUG) was conducted between January 1987 and June 1990, totaling 87 patients of which 61 were submitted to surgical biopsy. FNAC in the latter were interpreted as benign in 41 cases, suspected malignancy in 8, and definitely malignant in 7. The remaining 5 smears were considered technically inadequate for diagnosis. In 39 of the 41 patients with a benign (negative) cytology result, the histopathological diagnosis confirmed the absence of a neoplastic process (2 false negatives). In 12 of the 15 patients with a suspected malignant (positive) cytology result, a subsequent histopathological report confirmed a neoplastic process (3 false positives). Thus FNAC had a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 93%. We conclude that FNAC is a valuable tool for the diagnosis of erythroid goiter and could help reduce significantly the number of patients who need to be surgically intervened.
