Intraoperative pathologic examination: cost effectiveness and clinical value in patients with cytologic diagnosis of cellular follicular thyroid lesion.
OBJECTIVE
Routine use of intraoperative pathologic examination (IOPE), including frozen section (FS) and scrape preparation cytology (SPC), during diagnostic thyroid lobectomy continues to be a source of controversy. We sought to better delineate the usefulness and cost-benefit ratio of IOPE in the context of cytologically diagnosed cellular follicular lesion (CFL) or follicular neoplasm (FN).


METHODS
Records of 205 patients who underwent thyroidectomy for cytologically diagnosed FN or CFL between 1997 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. IOPE results, patient demographics, and tumor characteristics were correlated to final histopathologic diagnoses. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, accuracy, and costs of IOPE were calculated.


RESULTS
IOPE correctly identified 3 of 16 follicular carcinomas and 9 of 36 papillary carcinomas. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 23%, 99%, and 78%, respectively. On univariate analysis, malignancy risk among follicular nodules did not correlate with age, gender, or nodule size. On multivariate analysis, nodule size was predictive of malignancy (p < 0.05). Over the entire patient series, routine IOPE resulted in a net cost savings of $74,304.33.


CONCLUSIONS
IOPE reduced costs and limited the number of completion thyroidectomies necessary. IOPE is specific, cost effective, and of minimal additional risk when performed routinely for patients with CFL or FN.
Miller
Matthew C
MC
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA.
Rubin
Cory J
CJ
Cunnane
Mary
M
Bibbo
Marluce
M
Miller
Jeffrey L
JL
Keane
William M
WM
Pribitkin
Edmund A
EA
D018263:Adenocarcinoma, Follicular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D018265:Carcinoma, Papillary, Follicular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003584:Cytological Techniques / Q000191:economics*; D005260:Female; D005629:Frozen Sections / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy / Q000379:methods