title: The predictive value of the clinical features of malignancy in cases of preoperative follicular thyroid neoplasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It is generally impossible to make a distinction between benign and malign with a cytopathological examination using a fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in follicular lesions of the thyroid gland. This is the reason why lesions are frequently reported as follicular neoplasia (FN). Our study aims to examine the predictive value of carcinoma detection of different clinical features in cases with determined FN with FNAB.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and histopathological data of a total of 116 patients (26 male, 90 female) subjected to surgery because of thyroid gland pathology with FN between March 1997 and December 2011 were retrospectively examined in two different centers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results of the histopathological examinations were reported as: carcinoma in 33 (28.4%) cases (18 [54.5%] cases with papillary thyroid cancer, 11 [33.3%] cases with follicular thyroid cancer and 4 [12.1%] cases with papillary thyroid cancer follicular variant), as follicular adenoma (FA) in 32 (27.6%) patients and as a benign colloidal nodule in 51 (43.9%) patients. No statistical significance was determined between advanced age, male sex, solid single nodule, increased nodule diameter, hypoactive nodule existence and malignancy (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malignancy was found in 28.4% cases with FN detected as a result of FNAB in our study series, a ratio which is significantly higher than that reported in the literature. We think that the characteristics of the patient and the tumor are not effective in diagnosing cancer. In the case of the existence of bilateral thyroid pathology, the surgical therapy option should be bilateral total thyroidectomy due to such a high ratio of cancer occurrence.
authors: Department of General Surgery, Adnan Menderes University School of Medicine Aydin, Turkey. asoyder@yahoo.com
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Soyder
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Unübol
authors: O
authors: O
authors: Sen
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Ozbaş
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Koçak
mesh_terms: D018263:Adenocarcinoma, Follicular / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies