2021 Volume 60 Issue 1 Pages 1-7
Objective : We compared the diagnostic accuracy and cytomorphologic features of thyroid lesions in fine needle aspiration biopsy between the ThinPrep® and conventional smear methods (TP and CS, respectively).
Study Design : In this study, we compared the results and cytomorphologic features in 358 CS preparations and 308 TP preparations. We also compared the results obtained with TP and the corresponding surgical findings with those obtained using CS.
Results : The insufficient material rates for CS and TP were 18.7% and 9.7%, respectively, being significantly lower for TP as compared to CS. The diagnostic sensitivity of CS was 92.5%, and that of TP was 86.7%. The specificity was 100% for both CS and TP. In comparison to CS, a clean background, fragmentation of cell clusters and colloids, and obvious chromatin features were observed in TP. Nuclear grooves and pseudoinclusions could be easily visualized in the TPs of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
Conclusion : The TP method showed a similar diagnostic accuracy to CS, but with the advantage of reduced sample insufficiency rates. It is important to be aware of the cytological differences observed between CS and TP ; however, overall, TP seems to be at least as useful as CS.
