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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Substernal Thyroid Biopsy Using Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration
Published on: November 10, 2014
Adequacy of surgeon-performed ultrasound-guided thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy
Amol M Bhatki1, Brad Brewer, Toni Robinson-Smith
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Objective:
To determine the diagnostic accuracy of specimens obtained by a surgeon performing office-based ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of thyroid nodules.
Subjects And Methods:
From 2003 to 2006, a single surgeon performed 447 consecutive office-based US-guided FNABs without on-site cytological specimen evaluation. Adequate specimens had at least six clusters of follicular cells from at least two separate needle passes.
Results:
Non-diagnostic specimens occurred in 16 of 447 (3.6%) nodules, whereas suboptimal specimens occurred in 17 of 447 (3.8%). Adequate samples were obtained in 413 of 447 (92.6%) of specimens. Malignancy was present in 20 of 447 (4.5%) and atypical features were present in 37 of 447 (8.3%). Benign diagnoses were rendered in 357 of 447 (79.9%) of specimens, of which four of 357 (1.1%) represented false-negative results.
Conclusion:
Prior publications recommend that obtaining adequate thyroid cytology specimens requires use of US-guided FNAB and on-site evaluation of cytology adequacy. This study demonstrates that a combination of experienced US guidance, both capillary and aspiration sampling, and three to four needle passes produce comparable results while conserving costs and resources.
