Diagnostic Efficacy of Ultrasonography and Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology in Correlation with Histopathology in Euthyroid Patients Having Solitary Thyroid Nodule

Objective: In patients with solitary thyroid nodules, first approach is to confirm whether the nodule is benign or malignant. Commonly available investigations used in the evaluation include thyroid hormone assays, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) and ultrasonography (USG) among others. These procedures are not without drawbacks. The present study was undertaken to compare the diagnostic efficacy of USG and FNAC in correlation with histopathology in euthyroid patients having solitary thyroid nodule. Study Design: A prospective study was carried out on 48 euthyroid cases of solitary thyroid nodule attending the Department of ENT, SMS Medical College & Hospital, Jaipur, during the period of March 2016 to November 2017. All patients underwent ultrasonography and fine-needle aspiration cytology. The results of FNAC and USG were correlated with post surgical histopathogical examination (HPE) of the specimens to evaluate their sensitivity and specificity by statistical methods. Results: Ultrasound was 87.5% sensitive & 92.50% specific in the detection of malignancy in solitary thyroid nodules while the fine needle aspiration cytology had a sensitivity of 87.50% & specificity of 100% in the same regard. Conclusion: It was found that FNAC is a safe, reliable and cost effective diagnostic modality with a high sensitivity and specificity and is the single best investigation for preoperative evaluation of solitary thyroid nodule to differentiate between benign and malignancy nodules.