ArticleAnnals of Saudi medicine
The value of repeating fine-needle aspiration for thyroid nodules.
Article in Annals of Saudi medicine. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Beyond genomics: artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics for indeterminate thyroid nodules-a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Pooled it
- Educational exchange in thyroid core needle biopsy diagnosis: enhancing pathological interpretation through guideline integration and peer learning.Journal of pathology and translational medicine · 2024Article
- The Diagnostic Utility of Repeat Fine-needle Aspirations of Benign Thyroid Nodules.European thyroid journal · 2024Article
- The role of fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the diagnosis of malignant tumors.Romanian journal of morphology and embryology = Revue roumaine de morphologie et embryologieArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFine-needle aspiration (FNA) is an invaluable technique used in the evaluation of thyroid nodules.
objectivesEvaluate the concordance of results for consecutive FNA readings.
designRetrospective, descriptive. SETTINGS: Two tertiary care centers.
methodsDemographics were collected along with every FNA result and final pathology results for all patients (aged 9-90 years old) who underwent thyroid surgery from 2010 to 2017. The Bethesda system was used for cytology. Agreement levels were calculated and compared with final pathology. SAMPLE SIZE: Of 1237 initially included, 1134 had at least one FNA performed with results available for review.
resultsFor the 1134 patients, demographic and clinical data were collection and a comparison was made between the three FNA results; the highest agreement was between FNA 2 and 3 (53.6%); however, the kappa value was consistently low for all comparisons, indicating a poor level of agreement overall. Also, the risk of malignancy was higher in this study than in the 2017 Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology in FNA cytology categories I and II.
conclusionRepeating FNA biopsies yield different results every time; hence, there is a low level of agreement. The clinical decision should therefore include other important risk factors. Prospective studies could help shed more light on this topic. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective design. CONFLICT OF INTEREST: None.
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