Thyroglossal duct cysts: diagnostic criteria by fine-needle aspiration.

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.