Abstract :
Background: Thyroid gland is unique from other endocrine organs. Because of its superficial location it is easily
approachable for direct physical examination, cytological evaluation & histopathological study. The main objective of
FNAC of thyroid is to categorize patients who need surgery for neoplastic disorder from those having functional or
inflammatory abnormality requiring a clinical follow up & medical treatment. Aims & Objectives: To study
cytomorphological features of thyroid enlargement & palpable lesions of thyroid. To study the distribution of lesion
according to age & sex. To correlate cytomorphological features of thyroid lesions with histopathological features
wherever possible. Methods: The present study was conducted in department of pathology of Teerthanker Mahaveer
Medical College & Research Centre, Moradabad. The study period included retrospective cases from April 2016 to
January 2008 with total no. of cases 750. All relevant clinical profile of these cases was taken from case records. All
thyroid lesions conventionally diagnosed by FNA were classified according to TBSRTC. Results: In the present study, a
total of 750 cases of thyroid swellings were categorized under TBSRTC. Of which maximum cases were seen of benign
etiology i.e. colloid goiter more commonly affecting middle age group i.e. 31-40 yrs with female preponderance. Then
the sensitivity & specificity of FNAC were determined. In benign sensitivity & specificity was reported to be 96% & 100%
respectively. In malignant lesions both were found to be 100%. Conclusion: FNAC biopsy is regarded as a minimally
invasive, cost-effective technique with diagnostic accuracy in the range of 90-99%. The task of convincing clinicians of
the value of the technique has been extremely successful since their expectations of a high level of accuracy have been
met. The conclusion drawn from this study implicates FNAC as a useful primary investigative modality for evaluation of
palpable thyroid lesions. It also helps in distinguishing lesions based on the clinical management required.
Keyword :
Thyroid lesions, Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology, The Bethesda System Reporting Thyroid Cytology.