A CORRELATIVE CYTOLOGICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY ON LESIONS OF THYROID GLAND

The Thyroid Gland Is Unique Among The Endocrine Glands. It Is The Largest Of All The Endocrine Glands And It Is Superficial In Location. It Is The Only Gland Which Is Easily Approachable To Direct Physical, Cytological And Histopathological Examination. The Thyroid Gland Is Affected By A Variety Of Pathological Lesions That Are Manifested By Various Morphologies Including Developmental, Inflammatory, Hyperplastic And Neoplastic Pathology Which Are Quiet Common In The Clinical Practice. Lesions Of Thyroid Are So Common And It Presents As Diffuse Enlargement Or Solitary Or Multiple Nodules. As The Incidence Of Malignancy Presenting On Thyroid Lesion Is Quiet Low When Compared With The Overall Incidence Of Thyroid Nodular Lesions. Emphasis Is Placed Upon To Find Diagnostic Modalities That May Improve The Ability To Differentiate Between Nonneoplastic And Neoplastic Lesions And Differentiation Of Benign And Malignant Lesions . Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Has Been Established As The Investigation Of Choice In Thyroid Lesions. It Has Excellent Patient Compliance ,Simple And Quick To Perform In Outpatient Department And Is Cost Effective With High Degree Of Sensitivity And Specificity. The Main Indications For Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Are 1. Diagnosis Of Diffuse Non Toxic Goiter. 2. Diagnosis Of The Solitary Or Dominant Nodule Of Thyroid. 3. Confirmation Of Clinically Obvious Malignancy Of Thyroid. 4. To Obtain Material For Special Laboratory Investigations At Defining Prognostic Parameters. There Is Continuous Discussion For Appropriate Interpretation And Management Of Thyroid Lesions. A Need To Address These Argument And To Provide A Clinically Applicable With Cost Effective Approach To The Evaluation Of Thyroid Lesions And Its Management Has Prompted To Take Up This Study “A Correlative Cytological And Histopathological Study On Lesions Of Thyroid Gland ” In Our Centre At Madurai Medical College And Govt. Rajaji Hospital, Madurai. False Positive And False Negative Results Were Compared With Other Large Series Of Studies. Limitations Of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology In Distinguishing Thyroid Lesions Harbouring Non Neoplastic, Benign And Malignant Neoplastic Lesions Were Noted. Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Is A Safe As Well As Cost Effective Tool In The Study Of Thyroid Lesions. Observations Strongly Support That Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology Should Be The Initial Investigation Of Thyroid Disease And We Should Embrace This Diagnostic Procedure In The Management Of Thyroid Lesions.23 Touch Imprintprint Cytology Was Also Done Immediately After Receiving The Operated Specimens. Then The Results Were Noted And Histopathological Correlation Was Done For All These Cases. False Positive And False Negative Results Were Compared With Other Large Series Of Studies. Limitations Of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology(FNAC) And Touch Imprintprint Cytology In Diagnosing Thyroid Lesions Were Noted. Immuno Histo Chemistry (IHC) Was Also Performed In Some Cases With Ki- 67 . This Study Was Conducted To Assess The Utility Of Ki-67 As A Proliferation Marker In Nonneoplastic And Neoplastic Lesions Of Thyroid.