title: Fine needle aspiration cytology in the preoperative diagnosis of ultrasonically enlarged parathyroid glands.
abstract: The value of fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology in the diagnosis of ultrasonically suspected parathyroid gland enlargements was reviewed for a six-year series of cases. In 146 patients, 277 FNA biopsies under ultrasound guidance were performed on suspected enlarged parathyroid glands. Smears were routinely stained by the Pappenheim (May-Grünwald-Giemsa) method, and the Grimelius silver stain was used to demonstrate argyrophilic granules in the cytoplasm of parathyroid cells. Diagnostic material was obtained by FNA from 121 (83%) patients, whereas the aspirates were considered inadequate for cytologic diagnosis in 25 (17%) patients. For the 121 cases with adequate FNA samples, cytology diagnosed a parathyroid origin in 80 (55%) of the 146 total patients) and a thyroid origin in 41 (28%). The cytologic-histologic correlation available for 36 patients showed a cytologic sensitivity of 86%. Parathyroid lesions are frequently treated preoperatively as a disease of the thyroid; the results of this study suggest that cytomorphologic analysis of FNA samples can demonstrate the parathyroid origin of such samples, especially when a silver stain is used in addition to the routine stain.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nuclear Medicine, Rebro University Hospital, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Yugoslavia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halbauer
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Crepinko
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomć Brzac
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Simonović
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010279:Parathyroid Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016622:Silver Staining; D014463:Ultrasonography