[Cytometric estimation of lymphoid cell population in needle biopsy samples from patients with thyroid cancer]

Fine-needle aspiration cytological examination has established the small lymphocyte fraction in the total population of lymphoid cells in thyroid cancer patients to be at 0-2%, the frequency peak for lymphoid cells of an average size as shown on histographs being located in the 3rd interval. In follicular adenoma, cyst, autoimmune thyroiditis and goiter, the small lymphocyte percentage was found to rise to 9-20%, the frequency peak shifting to the 2nd interval. The lymphoid cells area distribution pattern for cancer was of a domed shape while an exponential relationship was observed in the other pathologies. The newly-developed criteria for thyroid cancer diagnosis are expected to increase the effectiveness and predictive value of aspiration technique by 25%.