title: Fine-needle aspiration cytodiagnosis of the "cold" thyroid nodule.
abstract: The results of 1886 fine-needle cytoaspirations of solid, palpable thyroid nodules, "cold" on scintiscanning, performed between 1 January 1978 and 31 December 1986, were analyzed. In total 36 diagnoses of malignancy were made (1.9%). The results of cytologic and histologic examinations were compared in 114 cases to verify the diagnostic accuracy of this method; there was agreement in 98 cases and discordance in 16 consisting of 13 false negatives (11.4%) and 3 false positives (2.6%). The sensitivity was 77.9%, specificity 94.5%, positive predictive value 93.8%, negative predictive value 80% and test efficiency 86%. These values are in the range of those reported in the literature and confirm the validity of fine-needle aspiration cytology in the preoperative diagnosis of thyroid neoplasms.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Anatomia e Istologia Patologica, I Cattedra, Università degli Studi, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giansanti
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monico
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fugiani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010173:Palpation; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*