PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

Ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology and ultrasound examination of thyroid nodules in the UAE: A comparison.

  • Suhail Al-Salam,
  • Charu Sharma,
  • Maysam T Abu Sa'a,
  • Bachar Afandi,
  • Khaled M Aldahmani,
  • Alia Al Dhaheri,
  • Hayat Yahya,
  • Duha Al Naqbi,
  • Esraa Al Zuraiqi,
  • Baraa Kamal Mohamed,
  • Shamsa Ahmed Almansoori,
  • Meera Al Zaabi,
  • Aysha Al Derei,
  • Amal Al Shamsi,
  • Juma Al Kaabi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247807
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 4
p. e0247807

Abstract

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BackgroundThyroid nodules are a common clinical finding and most are benign, however, 5-15% can be malignant. There is limited regional data describing the accuracy of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytological examination compared to ultrasound examination of thyroid in patients who have undergone thyroid surgery.MethodsA retrospective analysis of ultrasonographic (US) reports, FNA cytology reports and histopathology reports of 161 thyroid nodules presented at the endocrine center at Tawam hospital in Al Ain city, the United Arab Emirates during the period 2011-2019 was performed. US reports and images with FNA cytopathology reports and slides were reviewed by an independent radiologist and pathologist.ResultsIn total, 40 nodules were reported as benign by US examination, while very low suspicious, low suspicious, intermediate suspicious and highly suspicious categories were reported in 21, 41, 14 and 45 nodules respectively. In addition, 68 nodules were reported as benign (Bethesda category II), while atypical follicular cells of unknown significance (Bethesda category III), follicular neoplasm (Bethesda category IV), suspicious for malignancy (Bethesda category V), and malignant (Bethesda category VI) categories were reported in 33, 9, 24 and 27 nodules respectively. The risk of malignancy for US benign nodules was 5%, while the risks of malignancy in very low suspicious, low suspicious, intermediate suspicious and highly suspicious nodules were 52%, 36%, 100% and 87%, respectively. The risk of malignancy for Bethesda category II was 3%, while the risks of malignancy in category III, IV, V and VI were 58%, 67%, 96% and 100%, respectively.ConclusionThyroid FNA cytological examination and ultrasonography are key tools in predicting malignancy in thyroid nodules. Thyroid nodules with the diagnosis of Bethesda category III & IV run a high risk of malignancy thus more vigilance is required.