Thyroglossal duct cysts: diagnostic criteria by fine-needle aspiration
Shaffer, M.M.; Oertel, Y.C.; Oertel, J.E.
Archives of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine 120(11): 1039-1043
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-9985 PMID: 12049106 Document Number: 461451
Objective: To document the cytologic diagnostic criteria of fine-needle aspirations of thyroglossal cysts. Design: Midline cervical masses were studied by fine-needle aspiration, and those 11 thyroglossal cysts that were resected served as a baseline for the evaluation of aspirates from 33 similar lesions that were not removed. Setting: Physicians' offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and the aspiration service of a university department of pathology. Patients: Forty-four patients noting a mass in the anterior neck or found by physicians to have such a mass. Interventions: Fifty-one aspirations (second aspirates in seven patients); surgical removal of the cysts in 11 patients. Main Outcome Measures: Aspirates were examined for cells, other particulate matter, and any extracellular material in the background. Results: Smears from thyroglossal cysts are low in cellularity, and inflammatory cells are more numerous than epithelial cells. Conclusions: Fine-needle aspiration contributes to an accurate preoperative diagnosis of thyroglossal cysts, allowing a Sistrunk procedure to be performed in these patients rather than an inappropriate local resection.