Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the thyroid gland.

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a diagnostic procedure used routinely in the evaluation of patients referred with a thyroid swelling. The technique and the results in our series of 233 patients, which included 39 carcinomas, are presented. A relatively high diagnostic specificity of 81% was found, whereas the diagnostic sensitivity was considerably lower (58%). It is concluded that fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a valuable diagnostic procedure in the preoperative assessment of patients with thyroid swellings. A definitive treatment, however, must never be based entirely on the results of a fine-needle aspiration biopsy. It is concluded that the results can be improved if the procedure is performed by a few highly skilled clinicians and pathologists.