The usefulness of fine-needle aspirates for detection of recurrent carcinoma in the thyroid bed.

INTRODUCTION: Locoregional recurrence of thyroid carcinoma has a negative impact on patient prognosis. In the current study, we retrospectively reviewed cases of thyroid bed lesions in the last 3 years, correlating cytologic diagnoses with clinical findings and, whenever available, final surgical diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytologic results and needle wash thyroglobulin results from patients with fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid bed lesions were retrospectively collected from our electronic files. Additional retrieved data included sex, age at diagnosis, previous thyroidectomy diagnosis, time lapse since surgery, and corresponding surgical diagnosis (whenever available). RESULTS: A total of 91 cases from 72 patients (54 F, 18 M) were retrieved from the electronic files, with a median age of 49 years. Average interval between surgery and thyroid bed FNA was 5 years. Thyroglobulin levels were available for 60 (65.2%) cases. The average level was 276.2 ug/mL, with a range of <0.1 to 4720 ug/mL. Information on final surgical diagnosis was available for 31 samples. Complete agreement between final cytologic and histologic diagnoses was achieved in 28 of 31 (90.3%) of the cases, with 1 false negative and 2 false positives. Cytology sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 95.2%, 71.4%, 90.9%, 83.3%, and 89.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound-guided FNA is an accurate and minimally invasive diagnostic method for suspicious thyroid bed lesions, with high sensitivity and positive predictive value.

The impact of rapid on-site evaluation on thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy: A 2-year cancer center institutional experience.

BACKGROUND: The impact of rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) on thyroid aspirates has been a matter of extensive debate. In the current study, the authors reviewed all thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsies (FNABs) performed in their service in recent years to evaluate the impact of ROSE on final adequacy and diagnostic rates. METHODS: All ultrasound-guided FNABs of the thyroid performed between July 2015 and July 2017 were included retrospectively. ROSE was performed by experienced cytopathologists, with production of Romanowsky-stained slides for immediate evaluation. When ROSE was not performed, a total of 3 needle passes were performed as the default. Final specimen adequacy and the risk of malignancy (ROM) of each The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) category were calculated in the 2 groups (ROSE and non-ROSE) and compared using the chi-square test. RESULTS: An initial search obtained 4649 cytology specimens, 3469 of which (74.6%) underwent ROSE and 1180 of which (25.4%) did not. Patients were predominantly female (85.4%), with a mean age of 53 years. Specimen adequacy was found to be significantly higher in the ROSE group (93.4% vs 69.4%; P<.0001), with a mean number of needle passes necessary for an adequate diagnosis of 1.48 ± 0.71 (median, 1.0 needle passes; range, 1-5 needle passes). No statistical difference was observed with regard to the ROM for each TBSRTC category when the 2 groups (ROSE and non-ROSE) were compared. CONCLUSIONS: The current study data support ROSE as a valuable technique in thyroid FNAB. It was proven to significantly improve specimen adequacy with a decreased mean number of needle passes necessary to achieve an adequate cytological diagnosis and no impact on the ROM for any TBSRTC category.

Evaluation of neurodevelopmental effects on rats exposed prenatally to sulfentrazone.

Although some studies have pointed to embryo/fetal toxicity at treatment levels that were not maternally toxic, knowledge about the potential toxic effects of the herbicide sulfentrazone is still limited. Since the results of these studies have raised some concern, the present work studied the effects of sulfentrazone maternal exposure on the physical and neurobehavioral endpoints in the development of rat pups. To accomplish that, the effects of the herbicide sulfentrazone (25 and 50mg/kg) were examined at two different developmental stages in rats: during the first 6 days of gestation, or in the organogenesis period (6-15 days). After parturition, pups were tested in a developmental test battery including measures of growth, maturational milestones, and neurobehavioral development. Maternal exposure to the herbicide resulted in significant alterations of the postnatal age at which the developmental milestones of ear and eye opening and testes descent were observed. There was a reduced weight gain rate in pups and their mothers when treated during the gestational period at the highest dose tested. Also, the functional state of the rat pup nervous system at different stages of postnatal development showed some neurodevelopmental delays in righting reflex, negative geotaxis, grip response, and motor coordination-locomotion and rearing (21-90 days of life) in the treated groups. Herbicide genotoxicity was investigated in fresh leukocytes both in mothers and pups using the comet assay: the data did not show any significant genotoxic effect induced by the herbicide. The findings of this study emphasize that sulfentrazone maternal exposure may lead to some neuromuscular and behavioral deficits in nursing pups.