Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34137099›Full record

ArticleCytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology2021

Changes in thyroid fine needle aspiration practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duccio Rossi, Alessia Belotti, Clementina di Tonno, Valeria Midolo, Fausto Antonio Maffini, Luca Nicosia, Elvio De Fiori, Giovanni Mauri

Open access · hybridAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. The effect of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the management of differentiated thyroid cancer in Turkey: a single tertiary centre experience.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2024
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Changes in thyroid fine needle aspiration practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.Cytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology · 2021
    Article
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Duccio RossiPostgraduate School of Radiodiagnostics, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6711-8084
Alessia BelottiPostgraduate School of Pathology, Università Degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy.
Clementina di TonnoDivision of Cytopathology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Valeria MidoloDivision of Cytopathology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Fausto Antonio MaffiniDivision of Pathology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Luca NicosiaDepartment of Breast Radiology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Elvio De FioriDepartment of Radiology, IEO, European Institute of Oncology IRCCS, Milan, Italy.
Giovanni MauriDepartment of Oncology and Hematology-Oncology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4726-2692
Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico · ITUniversity of Milan · ITEuropean Institute of Oncology · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo investigate the diagnostic accuracy of a different sample preparation protocol for fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of thyroid nodules established during the COVID-19 pandemic.

methodsFrom April 2020, conventional smears during FNAC were ceased according to World Health Organization recommendations due to the increased infection risk for operators, and a new protocol using only liquid-based cytology (LBC) was adopted. FNACs performed between April and July 2020 (COVID-19 group) were retrospectively compared with those from December 2019 through March 2020 (Pre-COVID-19 group). The distribution of diagnoses based on SIAPEC-IAP categories and the concordance between cytological and histological results were compared using the chi-squared test.

resultsCategories based on FNAC for 90 and 82 thyroid nodules in the Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 groups showed no significant difference in distribution (P = .081), with the following respective cases (and percentages): TIR1, 7 (8%) and 8 (10%); TIR1C, 0 (0%) and 6 (7%); TIR2, 59 (66%) and 55 (67%); TIR3A, 8 (9%) and 5 (6%); TIR3B, 1 (1%) and 2 (3%); TIR4, 5 (6%) and 1 (1%); and TIR5, 10 (12%) and 5 (7%). Among patients with potentially malignant lesions, surgery was performed for 12/16 (75%) nodules in the Pre-COVID-19 and 7/8 (88%) nodules in the COVID-19 groups, with no significant differences between cytological and histological diagnoses (P = .931).

conclusionThe new LBC-only protocol provided similar diagnostic accuracy in comparison with conventional smears, and can be effectively applied during a viral pandemic improving operator safety.

Indexed as

SARS-CoV-2AdultAgedAged, 80 and overBiopsy, Fine-NeedleCOVID-19FemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedThyroid GlandThyroid NeoplasmsThyroid NoduleCOVID-19cytologyfine needle aspirationsurgerythyroid

Identifiers

PMID34137099
PMCPMC8597111
OpenAlexW3168503376

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.