[The impact of fine needle aspiration biopsy: diagnostic accuracy study].
The malign thyroid nodules identification, in the middle of a large number of innocent ones, by usual methods of exploration, is expensive, inespecific and of low accuracy. The fine needle aspiration biopsy, accepted in other places, is beginning to be used in our country.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of 915 fine needle aspiration biopsies (FNAB) of patients with thyroid nodules in a period of 10 years at a 400 bed general teaching hospital.


METHODS
915 cytologic examinations and comparison of 126 of them with the histologic ones.


RESULTS
Sensitivity, 91.2%; specificity, 47%; accuracy, 90.9%; false-positive, 3.6%; false negative, 5.5%. The proportion of neoplasms found in thyroidectomies was 20% when FNAB was not available yet and 48% after the introduction of this procedure. Patient acceptance was quite good, complications were infrequent and with no gravity.


CONCLUSIONS
FNAB of the thyroid is efficient, safe, well tolerated and easily applied even in a small hospital, but its limitations must be emphasized, mainly when we analyse the negative results.
Guimarães
E M
EM
Departamentos de Patologia e de Cirurgia da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, MG.
Morais
D M
DM
Da Silva
S J
SJ
Cremonini
N C
NC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013965:Thyroidectomy