Cytomorphological Spectrum of Thyroid Lesions: A Single Teaching Institute Experience

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid is a butterfly shaped endocrine gland situated in front of the neck. It secretes the hormones T3 and T4, playing a prime role in the metabolism of our body. The prevalence of Thyroid swellings in general population is 4-5 %. Due to the accessible location of the gland, it is easy to perform FNAC which acts as a quick screening as well as a diagnostic tool. Presently, the Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology is used which was established in year 2007. Methods: Retrospective, Cross-sectional, Descriptive Study with All patients with clinically palpable thyroid swelling irrespective of age and sex and excluding Any other swelling in the neck done at single institute. Results: A total of 160 thyroid cases were collected during the study period of Jan 2021 to June 2023. 147 were females and only 13 males. Female to Male ratio- 11.3:1. The common presentation for almost all age groups was swelling in the anterior aspect of neck moving with deglutition. Out of 160 cases, 2 cases were placed in category I, 142 cases in Category II, 13 cases in category IV, 1 case in category V and 2 cases in category VI. Amongst the 160 cases, only 30 underwent surgical resection and the diagnosis of 27 cases was same as that given by FNAC. Conclusion: FNAC is a simple and easy diagnostic tool for Thyroid swellings. most common of them all being colloid goitre. Surgery is not the main stay of treatment for benign lesions. Bethesda reporting system is a universally accepted system that helps in establishing an easy communication between the pathologist and the surgeon. As all other systems even Bethesda reporting system has shortcomings like it doesn’t take into consideration the age, sex and the sonography findings. But the positives outweigh the negatives and hence this is a widely accepted reporting system.