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[A prospective study of thyroid nodules]
J M Manresa1, R Caballol, J J Sirvent
1Hospital de Tortosa Verge de la Cinta, Tarragona.
Objective:
To evaluate a procedure for studying thyroid nodules (TN) by means of echography and puncture aspiration with a fine needle (PAFN) in order to select those patients best suited for surgery.
Design:
Prospective and descriptive. SITE. The counties of Terra Alta, Baix Ebre and Montsià with TN referred for investigation to out-patient clinics of Internal Medicine at Tortosa hospital.
Participants:
71 patients with TN were studied.
Measurement And Main Results:
Application of the procedure between 1990 and 1992. 94.4% of the TN were benign and 5.6% malignant. PAFN sensitivity was 50% and its specificity, 88%. 25% of the total number of patients underwent a surgical intervention. 22% of those patients operated on had a carcinoma. The concordance between the cytology of the surgical and non-surgical TN and their histology was 0.54 (Kappa Index).
Conclusions:
Applying the procedure allowed patients with malignant or suspect nodules to be selected for surgical intervention, leading to a considerable reduction in surgical morbidity and expenditure.