FNAC & Post Operative Histopathology In Thyroid Masses

Introduction: To evaluate a case of thyroid mass multitude of diagnostic tests like ultrasound, FNAC etc are available.Final diagnosis always requires morphological examination of lesions for which FNAC and histopathological examination (HPE) become mandatory. Methods: Study was conducted on 195 patients with thyroid masses who had undergone pre-operative FNAC which was compared with the histopathology and conclusions were drawn after statistical analysis.Results: In 92.8% patients FNAC and histopathology correlated very well. In 7.2 % patients FNAC and Histopathology did not correlate. 9 patients diagnosed as colloid goitre / cyst on FNAC, subsequently on HPE proved as Follicular adenoma in 5 patients and Papillary carcinoma in 4 patients, thus false negative results on FNAC were seen in 9 patients . 5 patients diagnosed as Follicular Neoplasm on FNAC turned out to be Colloid Goitre/cyst on histopathology,thus false positive diagnosis on FNAC was seen in 5 patients . Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value , negative predictive value and efficacy of FNAC in predicting neoplastic lesions were 90.4%, 95.04%, 94.4%, 91.4% and 92.8% respectively. Conclusion: Benign FNAC diagnosis should be viewed with caution as false negative results do occur and these patients should be followed up for any clinical suspicion of malignancy.