title: Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of thyroid bed lesions in post-thyroidectomy patients: what is the importance of nondiagnostic biopsy results?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy results for post-thyroidectomy bed lesions in patients with thyroid cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Institutional Review Board approved this retrospective Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study with a waiver for informed consent. Twenty-one patients with nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy of a thyroid bed lesion after thyroidectomy with at least 1 year of follow-up with neck imaging were retrospectively enrolled in our study. The tumor type, local staging, radiotherapy, serum thyroglobulin levels, and imaging characteristics of the thyroid bed lesions were recorded. All patients underwent sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid bed lesion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean imaging follow-up ± SD was 46.3 ± 28.7 months. Lesions in 20 patients (95.2%) were stable on imaging. Most thyroid bed lesions were hypoechoic (80.9%), and none showed calcifications. The mean thyroid bed mass maximum diameter was 1.17 ± 0.6 cm (range, 0.3-2.9 cm).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thyroid bed lesions with nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy results after thyroidectomy can be managed with imaging follow-up; 1-year imaging is a reasonable interval after biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiological, Oncological, and Pathological Sciences, University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zini
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raad
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Antic
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Aytekin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013965:Thyroidectomy; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional