Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Thyroid Bed Lesions in Post-Thyroidectomy Patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy results for post-thyroidectomy bed lesions in patients with thyroid cancer. The Institutional Review Board approved this retrospective Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study with a waiver for informed consent. Twenty-one patients with nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy of a thyroid bed lesion after thyroidectomy with at least 1 year of follow-up with neck imaging were retrospectively enrolled in our study. The tumor type, local staging, radiotherapy, serum thyroglobulin levels, and imaging characteristics of the thyroid bed lesions were recorded. All patients underwent sonographically guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid bed lesion. The mean imaging follow-up ± SD was 46.3 ± 28.7 months. Lesions in 20 patients (95.2%) were stable on imaging. Most thyroid bed lesions were hypoechoic (80.9%), and none showed calcifications. The mean thyroid bed mass maximum diameter was 1.17 ± 0.6 cm (range, 0.3-2.9 cm). Thyroid bed lesions with nondiagnostic fine-needle aspiration biopsy results after thyroidectomy can be managed with imaging follow-up; 1-year imaging is a reasonable interval after biopsy.