122 fine needle aspiration cytology of the thyroid nodule, performed from January 1990 to December 1990, were compared with the final histologic diagnosis of the postoperative spectimen or of the Tru-Cut needle biopsy.
There were 21 diagnoses of malignancy, 2 diagnoses of suspicious malignancy, 17 diagnoses of follicular tumor, 67 diagnoses of benign and 15 diagnoses of inadequate specximen for interpretation.
False positive was 0%, false negative was 19%, accuracy was 86%, sensitivity was 64%, and specificity was 100%.
It must be empohasized that only positive fine needle aspiration cytology are clinically useful, a negative cytology has no significance and further evaluation and follow up are necessary in every cases.
|