Usefulness of thyroglobulin in cervical lymph node fine-needle aspirations at initial thyroidectomy for the diagnosis of metastases in papillary thyroid cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To study the role of fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroglobulin measurement (FNAB-Tg) in diagnosing cervical lymph node (CLN) metastases in patients with papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) before thyroidectomy. METHODS: Ultrasonography (US)-guided FNAB was performed on 92 patients with PTCs with 105 CLNs before surgery. The wash-out of the FNAB-Tg level was detected. RESULTS: Based on the final pathology, 67 lymph nodes (LNs) were positive for metastasis, and 38 LNs were negative for metastasis. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FNAB-Tg in thyroidectomized patients was 100%, 86.8%, 95.2%, 97.3%, and 95.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: FNAB-Tg is a useful technique for diagnosing CLN metastasis of PTC before thyroidectomy.
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