Evaluation of Modified Core-Needle Biopsy in the Diagnosis of Thyroid Nodules.
Soomin Ahn, Sejin Jung, Ji-Ye Kim, Jung Hee Shin, Soo Yeon Hahn, Young Lyun Oh
Author Information
Soomin Ahn: Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 13620, Korea.
Sejin Jung: Department of Pathology and Translational Genomics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.
Ji-Ye Kim: Department of Pathology and Translational Genomics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.
Jung Hee Shin: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.
Soo Yeon Hahn: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.
Young Lyun Oh: Department of Pathology and Translational Genomics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 06351, Korea.
Objective: Core needle biopsy (CNB) of the thyroid is an additional diagnostic method for non-diagnostic or indeterminate cytology samples. We sought to evaluate a new modified core biopsy technique and compare the concordance of its diagnosis with the final diagnosis of the surgically resected specimen. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 842 patients who had a thyroid CNB with or without a previous fine-needle aspiration from August 2002 to March 2015; 38% of patients ultimately underwent thyroidectomy. We divided the patients into two groups for comparison: conventional group (n = 329) and new modified technique group (n = 513) that enabled sampling of not only the lesion but also the margin and surrounding parenchyma. The diagnostic conclusiveness of CNB and concordant rate with thyroidectomy was compared between the two groups. Results: The overall diagnostic conclusiveness did not exhibit a significant increase (77% in the conventional technique group and 75% in the modified technique group, = 0.408). In terms of the diagnostic concordance rate between CNB and thyroidectomy, no overall significant increase was observed (83% in the conventional technique group and 88% in the modified technique group, = 0.194). However, only in follicular-patterned lesions (nodular hyperplasia, follicular neoplasm, and follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma), a significant increase in the diagnostic concordance rate was observed (83% in the conventional group and 94% in the modified technique group, = 0.033). Conclusion: Modified CNB technique can be beneficial for the accurate diagnosis of follicular-patterned thyroid lesions.
