Efficacy of fine needle aspiration cytology in the management of thyroid diseases.

To find out the values of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in the management of thyroid diseases, 1123 cases have been analysed as regards clinical details, thyroid hormone levels and thyroid scans. Cytologically, 96.35% were benign, 0.98% follicular neoplasm, 1.24% malignant, 0.80% extrathyroidal and 0.63% inconclusive. One hundred twenty eight cases were selected for surgery. Correlation of cytology with histology revealed nil false positive. Efficacy as regards narrow definition was 92.3% sensitive, 100% specific with positive and negative predictive values of 92.3% and 98.9% respectively.