Thyroglossal duct cysts: diagnostic criteria by fine-needle aspiration.
OBJECTIVE
To document the cytologic diagnostic criteria of fine-needle aspirations of thyroglossal cysts.


METHODS
Midline cervical masses were studied by fine-needle aspiration, and those 11 thyroglossal cysts that were resected served as a baseline for the evaluation of aspirates from 33 similar lesions that were not removed.


METHODS
Physicians' offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and the aspiration service of a university department of pathology.


METHODS
Forty-four patients noting a mass in the anterior neck or found by physicians to have such a mass.


METHODS
Fifty-one aspirations (second aspirates in seven patients); surgical removal of the cysts in 11 patients.


METHODS
Aspirates were examined for cells, other particulate matter, and any extracellular material in the background.


RESULTS
Smears from thyroglossal cysts are low in cellularity, and inflammatory cells are more numerous than epithelial cells.


CONCLUSIONS
Fine-needle aspiration contributes to an accurate preoperative diagnosis of thyroglossal cysts, allowing a Sistrunk procedure to be performed in these patients rather than an inappropriate local resection.
Shaffer
M M
MM
Pathology Department, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Oertel
Y C
YC
Oertel
J E
JE
D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D013955:Thyroglossal Cyst / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery