Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rate of morphologic change in thyroid nodules after initial benign ultrasound (US) and fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) cytology and also to investigate the associated US characteristics and the management of these nodules.
Methods and Materials
From October 2003 to December 2004, among patients who underwent thyroid FNAB, 550 patients who had thyroid nodules with initial benign US and cytologies were included in this study. Standard references were established by pathologic results, follow-up cytologic results, or follow-up US. We evaluated the incidence of morphologic changes to suspicious US findings of these thyroid nodules after FNAB and their malignancy rates. We evaluated the US features affecting the morphologic changes after FNAB in these patients.
Results
Of 550 patients, 28 patients (5.1 %) showed morphologic changes into suspicious looking nodules on follow-up US. All thyroid nodules that showed morphologic changes had mixed echoic nodules compositions (P< 0.001). The amount of morphologic changes that occurred was associated with the size of the cystic portion, but all changed nodules were confirmed as benign.
Conclusion
Follow-up US may be preferred to repeat FNAB for thyroid nodules with initial benign US and cytologies even when the nodules have changed to suspicious US feature after FNAB.
References
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2. Baloch Z, LiVolsi VA, Jain P, et al. Role of repeat fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the management of thyroid nodules. Diagn Cytopathol 2003;29:203-206
3. Chehade JM, Silverberg AB, Kim J, Case C, Mooradian AD. Role of repeated fine-needle aspiration of thyroid nodules with benign cytologic features. Endocr Pract 2001;7:237-243
4. Merchant SH, Izquierdo R, Khurana KK. Is repeated fine-needle...
Personal Information
Yu-Mee Sohn, MD,1,2 Eun-Kyung Kim,MD,2 Hee Jung Moon,MD,2 ,
Soo Jin Kim,MD,2 Min Jung Kim,MD,2 Jin Young Kwak, MD2
1Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea
2Department of Radiology, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea