Ultrasound Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology in Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodule

Introduction: The prevalence of clinically palpable thyroid nodules is approximately 4–7%, but the prevalence of ultrasound-detectable nodules is 19 to 67%. FNAC is widely accepted and has become cornerstone in evaluation of thyroid nodules, because it is a simple and accurate screening test with high sensitivity and specificity in the preoperative evaluation of thyroid lesions. Ultrasound guided FNAC is the most cost-effective and accurate way to evaluate thyroid nodules. Aim: This study was done in an attempt to identify the Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive predictive value, Negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound guided FNAC of thyroid nodules and to correlate with the findings of previous authors. Methodology: Thirty two patients with age group greater than 15 years of age presenting with thyroid nodules were included in the study. Ultrasound Guided FNAC was done for all the patients before surgery. Results of Ultrasound Guided FNAC and Histopathology were tabulated and statically analysed to identify the Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive predictive value, Negative predictive value and Diagnostic Accuracy of ultrasound guided FNAC of thyroid nodules. Results: Female patients were dominant when compared to male patients. The mean age was 49 and 44 for female and male patients respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound guided FNAC of the thyroid swelling were 87.5%, 91.67%, 77.78%, 95.65% and 90.62% respectively. Conclusion: In our study, ultrasound guided FNAC proved to be a better modality for diagnosing the etiology in thyroid nodules that gave a high accuracy rate of 90.62%. Further more studies are needed with the larger sample size to confirm it.