The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology: A Five-Year Retrospective Review of One Center Experience

Abstract

Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the thyroid gland is a widely accepted and accurate method for triaging patients with thyroid nodules. Thyroid FNA suffers from a reporting confusion due to multiplicity of category terminologies. To address this, The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) was recently introduced for unifying the terminology and morphologic criteria along with the corresponding risk of malignancy.

Objective: The aim of this study was to report the diagnostic utility of TBSRTC at our institution and report the malignancy risk for FNA of thyroid lesions among Saudi patients using this system at KAUH (King Abdulaziz University Hospital), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: A retrospective study identifying 250 thyroid FNAs performed among Saudi patients between Jan 2005- Dec 2010 was undertaken. Cytology specimen data was collected through a computerized search of our cytopathology archives. Results: Among the 250 thyroid FNAs, 84 were followed by surgical resection. The overall surgical yield of malignancy was 23.8%. The malignancy rate for the 6 categories was as follows: non diagnostic: 20%, benign: 3.1%, atypia of undetermined significance: 50%, suspicious for follicular neoplasm: 20%, suspicious for malignancy: 80%, malignant: 100%.

Conclusion: Retrospective classification of FNAs of thyroid lesions among Saudi patients using TBSRTC at KAAUH, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, validates the diagnostic reproducibility of this system and yields similar results for risk of malignancy as reported by others. However the associated rates found for non diagnostic (20%) raise the possibility of malignancy risk in this category and validate the past observations that sample inadequacy is a common cause of false negative thyroid FNAs.

 

Mufti, S. T., & Molah, R. M. (2012). The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology: A Five-Year Retrospective Review of One Center Experience. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(2). Retrieved from https://pub.qu.edu.sa/index.php/journal/article/view/327
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Author Biographies

Shagufta Tahir Mufti, College of Medicine King AbdulAziz University,Jeddah,Saudi Arabia

Assisstant Professor and Senior Specialist,

Department of Anatomic Pathology.

College of Medicine,KAU

Rihab Mohammad Molah, KAAU and Hospital Jeddah,Saudi Arabia
Resident in Saudi Board of Anatomic Pathology
KAAU and Hospital
Jeddah,Saudi Arabia