Diagnostic Accuracy of the Bethesda System of Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology in the Evaluation of Thyroid Nodule in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Kolkata

BACKGROUND Thyroid cancer has the most rapidly increasing incidence of all major cancers in India. The overall prevalence of thyroid malignancy is approximately 1 - 5 % of all cancers in women and less than 2 % in men. Thyroid nodules are a common clinical finding and have a reported prevalence of 4 – 7 % in the general population. The vast majority of these nodules are non-neoplastic or benign and the risk of malignancy varies from 5 to 10 %. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is an efficient and reliable means for the evaluation of thyroid nodules. A key challenge for clinicians is to choose which thyroid nodule is to be investigated further and treated. Early detection and treatment of malignant thyroid nodules is associated with excellent outcomes. The aim of our study is to compare and correlate between fine needle aspiration cytology and histopathology of resected specimen and to determine the diagnostic accuracy of TBSRTC (The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology) in thyroid nodule. METHODS This is a cross sectional validation study conducted in a tertiary care hospital (R.G. Kar Medical College) of Kolkata to find the sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy of TBSRTC in evaluation of thyroid nodule. RESULTS We have observed that TBSRTC is highly sensitive and specific in stratifying the malignancy risk of thyroid nodule. CONCLUSIONS It aids the clinician to choose the thyroid nodules which require further evaluation and intervention. It also guides the clinician to decide the operability of thyroid nodule. TBSRTC is highly accurate and is highly specific in stratifying the risk of malignancy of thyroid nodule. KEYWORDS TBSRTC, FNAC, Thyroid Nodules, Thyroid Cancer