Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: The prevalence of thyroid swelling ranges from 4% to 10% in general adult population and from 0.2% to 1.2% in children. The present study was conducted to correlate fine needle aspiration cytology with histopathological examination of thyroid swellings. Materials & Methods: 65 patients of thyroid swellings of both genders were enrolled. Data such as name, age, gender etc. was recorded. All patients with were clinically evaluated.Thyroid function test and an ultrasound was performed using a 7.5 MHZ high frequency linear array transducer. FNAC was performed. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of FNAC smear was recorded. Results: 58 lesions were cytologically benign and 7 were malignant. Lesions were colloid goitre in 25, multinodular goitre in 20, follicular neoplasm in 3, hashimotos thyroiditis in 2, papillary carcinoma in 10, follicular adenoma in 4 and lymphocytic thyroiditis in 1 case. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). Histopathological diagnosis was thyroiditis in 2, multinodular goitre in 23, colloid goitre in 12, follicular adenoma in 8 and malignancy in 10 cases. The difference was significant (P< 0.05). FNAC had Sensitivity of 70%, Specificity of 100%, PPV of 100% and NNV of 94.8%. Conclusion: FNAC is a reliable, and accurate method in evaluating thyroid swelling before the surgery.