Diseases of the thyroid gland are very common and comprise a wide spectrum of disorders. Fine needle aspiration is a well-established diagnostic tool for the evaluation of palpable thyroid swellings. FNAC bridges the gap between the clinical evaluation and final surgico-pathological diagnosis and helps to reduce unwarranted surgeries. This study was undertaken to determine the utility and efficacy of FNAC in the diagnosis of thyroid lesions. A two year prospective study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, from 1^st September 2015 to 31^st August 2017. The study consisted a total of 476 cases diagnosed as thyroid lesions and referred for cytological study by the departments of ENT and Surgery.

Keywords: FNAC thyroid, The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC).

1. Ananthakrishnan N, Rao KM, Narasimhans R, Veliath, Smilet SR, Jagadish S. The Single Thyroid Nodule: A South Indian Profile of 503 Patients with Special Reference to Incidence of Malignancy. Indian J Surg. 1993; 55(10):487-92.
2. Baloch Z, Livolsi V. Pathology of thyroid and parathyroid disease. In: Sternberg’s diagnostic surgical pathology. 4th ed. Edinburgh: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 2004:557-95.
3. Kamaljit Kaur, Nishi Sonkhya, A.S.Bapna, Pradeep Mital. A comparative study of fine needle aspiration cytology, ultrasonography and radionucleotide scan in the management of solitary thyroid nodule: a prospective analysis of fifty cases. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Vol.54(2) April-June 2000:96-101
4. Raniwala A, Wagh DD, Dixit-Shukla A, Shrikhande N, Padmawar M. Study and correlation of clinical, radiological, cytological, and histopathological findings in the diagnosis of thyroid swellings. J Datta Meghe Inst Med Sci Univ 2017;12:138-42.
5. Renuka IV, Saila Bala G, Aparna C, Kumari R, Sumalatha K. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology: Interpretation and Guidelines in Surgical Treatment. Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery. 2012;64(4):305-311. doi:10.1007/s12070-011-0289-4.
6. Kumar A, Bhadouriya SKS, Narain P, Chauhan JPS, Bharti B, Singh J. Comparative study of FNAC and histopathology of thyroid swellings, diagnostic accuracy and role in its management. Int J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2017;3:885-92.
7. Gupta A, Jaipal D, Kulhari S, Gupta N. Histopathological study of thyroid lesions and correlation with ultrasonography and thyroid profile in western zone of Rajasthan, India. Int J Res Med Sci 2016;4:1204-8.
8. Hirachand S et al. Accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology in diagnosis of thyroid swelling. Journal of Pathology of Nepal (2013) Vol. 3, 433 – 436
9. Anil Kumar et al. "A Cytomorphological Study of Thyroid Lesions with Special Reference to Macrophages". IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS). Volume 15, Issue 4 Ver. XIII (Apr. 2016), PP 36-42.

R.Lavanya

Post-Graduate, Department of Pathology,

RMMCH, Chidambaram-608002, Tamilnadu, India