Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026
Detection of Extravascular Trypanosoma Parasites by Fine Needle Aspiration
Published on: August 7, 2019
Fine-needle aspiration cytology of thyroid nodules--how well are we doing?
Y S Cheung1, C M Poon, S M Mak
1Department of Surgery, North District Hospital, Po Kin Road, Sheung Shui, Hong Kong.
Objectives:
To review the accuracy of fine-needle aspiration cytology in diagnosing non-toxic thyroid nodules and determine what factors are predictive of malignancy in patients with indeterminate cytology results.
Design:
Retrospective study.
Setting:
Regional hospital, Hong Kong.
Patients:
Patients with non-toxic thyroid nodules undergoing thyroidectomy from December 1999 to December 2003.
Main Outcome Measures:
Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of fine-needle aspiration cytology, predictive factors for malignancy in patients with indeterminate fine-needle aspiration cytology results.
Results:
The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of fine-needle aspiration cytology were 54%, 100%, 100%, and 75% respectively. For the 92 patients with fine-needle aspiration cytology reported as 'indeterminate for malignancy', aspiration cytology subgroup (P=0.005) and age (P=0.001) were significant risk factors for diagnosing malignancy.
Conclusions:
Fine-needle aspiration cytology has high positive predictive value for thyroid cancer, enabling us to 'rule-in' malignant lesions with confidence. Among those with indeterminate fine-needle aspiration cytology, atypical cell lesions and age greater than 40 years conferred increased risk of malignancy.
