Importance of Fine Needle Aspiration in Evaluation of Single Nodular Goiter

Abstract

Background: Improvements in the sensitivity and specificity of biochemical thyroid tests, as well as the development of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNA) and improved cytological techniques, have dramatically impacted clinical strategies for detecting and treating thyroid disorders. Fine needle aspiration is a safe and relatively painless procedure where a hypodermic needle passed into the lump and samples of tissue taken out. This procedure will provide us with more information about the nature of the lump, and especially differentiate between a benign and malignant mass.Objectives: The current prospective study designed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNA. The study was performed in the regional major hospital, Khartoum, Sudan. Patients and methods: A thousand and three hundred thirty one patients who underwent thyroidsurgery 'between' January 2004 to June 2007 were enrolled.Results: 247 (18.3%) had single nodular goiter. The incidence of benign and malignant lesions in single nodular goiter were 204 (87.6%) and 29 (12.4%) respectively. The overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of FNA were 95.5%, 99.5% and 99.4% respectively.Conclusion: Also there is correlation between the nodule size and the result of FNA, as the nodular size increase there is increase of the probability of malignant changes. So, solitary or dominant nodules ≥ 1cm in diameter might be evaluated by FNA.Keywords: Thyroid, Single nodule, Malignancy.