Institutional analysis of diagnostic yield of ultrasound guided thyroid FNA.

Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA) is a safe, effective means of assessment of thyroid cancer 1 with ultrasound guided FNA (UG-FNA) providing a more accurate and cost effective means of diagnosis of thyroid cancer than palpation guided FNA 2 . This report looked at the institutional experience of UG-FNA of the thyroid which were carried out over a 9 year period in the Adelaide, Meath and National Children’s Hospital in Dublin. Seventy four cases of which were identified in the period mentioned. The cytology samples were reported as benign, suspicious, inconclusive or inadequate samples. Of the 74 patients, 53 (72%) cytology results were reported as benign, 11 (13%) cytology reports showed insufficient yield for analysis, 5 (7%) FNA cytology reports showed malignant cells present, 4 (5.4%) were reported as suspicious though inconclusive, and 1 (1.3%) cytology result was reported as inconclusive.