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Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Substernal Thyroid Biopsy Using Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration
Published on: November 10, 2014
Fine needle aspiration cytology and immunocytochemistry in tuberculous thyroiditis: a case report
Madhu Mati Goel1, Puja Budhwar
1Department of Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. madhukgmc@rediffmail.com
Background:
Tuberculosis of the thyroid is very rare and does not strike the clinician as a first clinical diagnosis of a thyroid nodule. To our knowledge, only 40 cases of tuberculous thyroiditis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) are described in the English literature.
Case:
We report a case of tuberculous thyroiditis in a young woman who presented with a right-side solitary thyroid nodule of short duration (15 days), diagnosed by FNAC and confirmed by positive immunocytochemistry with monoclonal antibody to Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Ziehl Neelsen staining for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) was negative.
Conclusion:
FNAC provides a confident preoperative diagnosis of thyroid tuberculosis, obviating the need for unnecessary surgical removal of thyroid nodule. Immunocytochemistry is an important diagnostic adjunct to FNAC in AFB-negative cases.
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