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Preparation and Using Phantom Lesions to Practice Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsies
Published on: September 29, 2009
Split sample comparison of a liquid-based method and conventional smears in thyroid fine needle aspiration
Chan-Kwon Jung1, Ahwon Lee, Eun-Sun Jung
1Department of Hospital Pathology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Acta Cytologica
|June 11, 2008
Summary
The SurePath (SP) method for thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) showed improved cellularity and diagnostic accuracy compared to conventional smears (CS). SP also enables immunocytochemistry on the same sample, aiding suspicious case diagnosis.
Area of Science:
- Cytopathology
- Endocrinology
- Surgical Pathology
Background:
- Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is crucial for thyroid nodule evaluation.
- Conventional smears (CS) have limitations in cellularity and diagnostic clarity.
- The SurePath (SP) liquid-based cytology method offers potential improvements.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the diagnostic efficacy of SurePath (SP) versus conventional smears (CS) for thyroid FNA.
- To assess cytomorphologic differences and diagnostic category distribution between SP and CS.
- To evaluate the utility of Galectin-3 immunostaining in conjunction with SP cytology.
Main Methods:
- 193 ultrasound-guided thyroid FNA samples were processed for both CS and SP slides.
- Cytologic diagnoses were categorized as unsatisfactory, benign, atypical, or malignant.
- Galectin-3 immunostaining was performed on SP slides for correlation with surgical findings.
Main Results:
- SP slides demonstrated increased cellularity and better-preserved tissue fragments compared to CS.
- Nuclear detail and nucleoli were more discernible on SP, aiding papillary carcinoma diagnosis.
- Overall FNA sensitivity was higher for SP (93.9%) than CS (90.9%), with a trend towards fewer atypical diagnoses.
Conclusions:
- SurePath (SP) cytology offers superior cytomorphologic evaluation and specimen quality for thyroid FNA.
- SP is more effective for diagnosing suspicious thyroid lesions and allows for adjunctive immunocytochemistry.
- Galectin-3 positivity was observed in 73% of surgically confirmed papillary carcinomas.
