Abstract

OSORIO, Carlos et al. Comparison between fine needle aspiration cytology and frozen section biopsy in the diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of the thyroid gland: a prospective study. rev. colomb. cir. [online]. 2016, vol.31, n.1, pp.17-26. ISSN 2011-7582.

Introduction: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and frozen section (FS) are currently considered cornerstones in the diagnosis of thyroid gland nodular lesions. The main goal of the present study is to prospectively compare the performance of FNAC and FS in the diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of the thyroid at the E.S.E Hospital Universitario del Caribe, Cartagena, Colombia. Methods: Between April 2014 and June 2015, FNAC and FS were obtained in a prospective way by a radiologist and a neck surgeon, respectively. The results of the FNAC and the FS were compared with the pathology report. The following performance parameters were included: sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic accuracy, false positive and false negative percentage. The kappa index for concordance was used to compare the performance of FNAC and FS. Results: The population study consisted of 85 patients, 92,9% female, with average age 45,3 ± 14,7 years. The following performance parameters for FNAC and FS were determined: sensitivity 80,0% / 90,0%; specificity, 98,7% / 100,0%; positive predictive value 88,9% / 100,0%; negative predictive value, 97,4% / 98,7%; diagnostic accuracy 96,5% / 98,8%; false positives percentage, 1,2% / 0.0%, false negatives percentage, 2,4% / 1,2% and kappa index for concordance of 0.952. Conclusion: FNAC and the FS have a concordance index of 0.952 in the diagnosis of thyroid malignant neoplasms. These results do not suggest the routine use of FS, however they do suggest that the use of FS in the intraoperative management of patients with cytologic diagnosis of "suspicious for malignancy" lower even more the frequency of false positives.

Keywords : thyroid neoplasms; biopsy; fine-needle; frozen sections; cytology; diagnosis; sensitivity and specificity.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )