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Updated: Mar 30, 2026

Substernal Thyroid Biopsy Using Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration
Published on: November 10, 2014
[Do not always puncture a thyroid nodule]
Bart Dorgelo1, Johannes W A Smit, Thera P Links
1Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, Groningen.
Abstract:
The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing, especially the papillary subtype. This increase can be mainly attributed to the detection of small - mostly indolent - papillary thyroid cancers as a consequence of the higher sensitivity of diagnostic techniques and the more frequent use of diagnostic applications. Two patients are described with (non-)palpable thyroid nodules to illustrate the risk of overdiagnostics and overtreatment. A thyroid incidentaloma detected on ultrasound, CT or MRI does not require further diagnostic procedures as standard. The pros and cons of diagnostic procedures must be discussed in a multidisciplinary team.
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