title: How to interpret thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy reports: a guide for the busy radiologist in the era of the Bethesda Classification System.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the current primary test to risk stratify thyroid nodules. However, in up to one third of biopsies, cytology is indeterminate. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology categorizes thyroid cytology findings into six groups, with each group assigned a putative malignancy risk. This article reviews the Bethesda System, emphasizing the key facts necessary to understand thyroid biopsy results and effectively manage patients after FNAB.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is important to diagnose and stratify the risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules. A working knowledge of the Bethesda System permits accurate, evidence-based risk stratification of patients with thyroid nodules and thereby facilitates their management. Because it is a uniform diagnostic approach, the Bethesda System allows comparisons of different management strategies across different institutions.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Abdominal Imaging & Intervention, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit St, White 270, Boston, MA 02114.
authors.forename: Manish
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dhyani
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Faquin
authors.forename: Carrie C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lubitz
authors.forename: Gilbert H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Anthony E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Samir
mesh_terms: D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D003581:Cytodiagnosis / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional