scholarly journals Atypia and Follicular Lesions of Undetermined Significance in Subsequent Biopsy Result: What Clinicians Need to Know

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. 3082
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Kaliszewski ◽  
Dorota Diakowska ◽  
Marta Rzeszutko ◽  
Łukasz Nowak ◽  
Urszula Tokarczyk ◽  
...  

Atypia and follicular lesions of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) is the most controversial category of The Bethesda System. The risk of malignancy (ROM) in this group is estimated as 5–15%, however, the occurrence of two or more subsequent biopsy results with AUS/FLUS diagnosis makes these clinical situations more complex. We evaluated the ROM and prognostic value of aggressive ultrasound (US) features in 342 patients with thyroid nodules (TNs) with subsequent biopsy results of AUS/FLUS. We assessed US features and compared them with the final histopathological diagnosis. Overall, 121 (35.4%) individuals after first AUS/FLUS diagnosis underwent surgery and 221 (64.6%) patients had repeated biopsies. The ROM after first, second, and third biopsies with subsequent AUS/FLUS diagnosis were 7.4%, 18.5%, and 38.4% respectively. We demonstrated significantly higher rates of occurrence of aggressive US features in patients with malignancy (p < 0.0001). The age <55 years old was also a significant risk factor for TC (p = 0.044). Significant associations were found between aggressive US features and malignancy in patients after first diagnosis of AUS/FLUS (p < 0.05). The juxtaposition of US features with the number of biopsy repetitions of TN with consecutive AUS/FLUS diagnoses may simplify the decision-making process in surgical management. Two or three consecutive biopsy results with AUS/FLUS diagnosis increases the ROM.

Author(s):  
Kalpesh Hathi ◽  
Tarek Rahmeh ◽  
Vicki Munro ◽  
Victoria Northrup ◽  
Ali Sherazi ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Thyroid nodules are stratified through fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and are often categorized using The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, which estimates the risk of malignancy for six cytopathological categories. The atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) and follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) categories have varying malignancy rates reported in the literature which can range from 6 to 72.9%. Due to this heterogeneity, we assessed the malignancy rate and effectiveness of repeat FNA (rFNA) for AUS/FLUS thyroid cytopathology at our institution. Methods Electronic health records of patients with AUS/FLUS thyroid cytopathology on FNA at our center since the implementation of the Bethesda System on May 1, 2014–December 31, 2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Patient demographics, treatment pathway, and pathology results were collected. The treatment pathway of the nodules, the rFNA results, and the malignant histopathology results were reported. Malignancy rates were calculated as an upper and lower limit estimate. Results This study described 182 AUS/FLUS thyroid nodules from 177 patients. In total, 24 thyroid nodules were deemed malignant upon histopathology, yielding a final malignancy rate of 13.2–25.3%. All of the malignancies were variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The malignancy rate of the nodules which underwent resection without rFNA (21.5%) was lower than the malignancy rate of the nodules which underwent resection after rFNA (43.8%). 45.5% of the rFNA results were re-classified into more definitive categories. Conclusion The malignancy rate of AUS/FLUS thyroid cytopathology at our center is in line with the risk of malignancy stated by the 2017 Bethesda System. However, our malignancy rate is lower than some other Canadian centers and approximately half of our rFNAs were re-classified, highlighting the importance of establishing center-specific malignancy and rFNA re-classification rates to guide treatment decisions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (02) ◽  
pp. e221-e226
Author(s):  
Hamdan Ahmed Pasha ◽  
Rahim Dhanani ◽  
Ainulakbar Mughal ◽  
Kaleem S. Ahmed ◽  
Anwar Suhail

Abstract Introduction Atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) is one of the six diagnostic categories of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. The prevalence of malignancy among Bethesda category III cytology is variable, ranging from 5% to 37% in the literature. Objective To determine the rate of malignancy in thyroid nodules reported as Bethesda category III. Methods A total of 495 patients underwent surgical intervention for thyroid nodules from January 2015 to December 2017. The present study included 81 cases reported as Bethesda category III, and their medical records were reviewed. Results Out of 495 fine-needle aspiration cytology samples, 81 (16.4%) samples were labeled as AUS/FLUS. Among these 81 patients, the mean age was 43.0 years (± 13.9), with only 11 (14%) patients older than 55 years of age. Most of our patients were female (n = 69; 85.2%), and the rest were male. The rate of malignancy based on the final histology was of 33.3% (n = 27). The majority were 17 cases (21%) of papillary carcinoma, followed by follicular carcinoma (n = 6) (7.4%). Conclusion The risk of malignancy can be higher than it is commonly believed, and guidelines should be based on the data from the institutions themselves for a better assessment of the outcomes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 370-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Mileva ◽  
Bojana Stoilovska ◽  
Anamarija Jovanovska ◽  
Ana Ugrinska ◽  
Gordana Petrushevska ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Ultrasound guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) is a standard procedure for thyroid nodules management and selecting patients for surgical treatment. Atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS), as stated by The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, is a diagnostic category with an implied malignancy risk of 5–15%. The aim of our study was to review cytology and histopathology reports, as well as clinical and ultrasound data, for thyroid nodules reported as AUS/FLUS, in order to evaluate the malignancy rate and to assess factors associated with malignant outcome. Patients and methods A total of 112 AUS/FLUS thyroid nodules in 105 patients were evaluated, of which 85 (75.9%) were referred to surgery, 21 (18.8%) were followed-up by repeat FNA and 6 nodules (5.3%) were clinically observed. Each was categorized in two final diagnostic groups - benign or malignant, which were further compared to clinical data of patients and ultrasonographic features of the nodules. Results Final diagnosis of malignancy was reached in 35 cases (31.2%) and 77 (68.8%) had benign lesions. The most frequent type of cancer was papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) - 58.1% PTC and 25.8% had follicular variant of PTC. Patients’ younger age, smaller nodule size, hypoechoic nodule and presence of calcifications were shown to be statistically significant risk factors for malignancy. Conclusions The rate of malignancy for the AUS/FLUS diagnostic category in our study was higher than estimated by the Bethesda System. Clinical and ultrasound factors should be considered when decision for patient treatment is being made.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bakiarathana Anand ◽  
Anita Ramdas ◽  
Marie Moses Ambroise ◽  
Nirmal P. Kumar

Introduction. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) is a significant step to standardize the reporting of thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA). It has high predictive value, reproducibility, and improved clinical significance. Aim. The study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility and reproducibility of “TBSRTC” at our institute. Methods and Material. The study included 646 thyroid FNAs which were reviewed by three pathologists and classified according to TBSRTC. Cytohistological correlation was done for 100 cases with surgical follow-up and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, diagnostic accuracy, and risk of malignancy (ROM) were calculated. The interobserver variation among three pathologists was also assessed. Results. The distribution of cases in various TBSRTC categories is as follows: I—nondiagnostic 13.8%, II—benign 75.9%, III—atypia of undetermined significance (AUS)/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (FLUS) 1.2%, IV—follicular neoplasm (FN)/suspicious for follicular neoplasm (SFN) 3.7%, V—suspicious for malignancy (SM) 2.6%, and VI—malignant 2.8%. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy are 72.4%, 94.3%, 84%, 89.2%, and 87.9%, respectively. The ROM of various TBSRTC categories were II—8.5%; III—66.7%; IV—63.6%; and V and VI—100%. Cohen’s Weighted Kappa score was 0.99 which indicates almost perfect agreement among the three pathologists. Conclusions. Our study substantiates greater reproducibility among pathologists using TBSRTC to arrive at a precise diagnosis with an added advantage of predicting the risk of malignancy which enables the clinician to plan for follow-up or surgery and also the extent of surgery.


Author(s):  
Huy Gia Vuong ◽  
Ayana Suzuki ◽  
Hee Young Na ◽  
Pham Van Tuyen ◽  
Doan Minh Khuy ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives We aimed to provide the Asian experience with the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) in pediatric thyroid nodules. Methods Consecutive thyroid fine-needle aspirates (patient age, ≤18 years) were retrospectively collected from 7 tertiary centers in 5 Asian countries. Results Of 194,364 thyroid aspirates, 0.6% were pediatric cases (mean age, 15.0 years). Among 827 nodules with accessible follow-up, the resection rate and risk of malignancy (ROM) were 36.3% and 59.0%, respectively. Malignant nodules (n = 179) accounted for 59.7% of resected nodules and 21.6% of all thyroid nodules with available follow-up. Compared with the published adult series, pediatric nodules had a higher resection rate and ROM, particularly in the indeterminate categories. Conclusions Our study demonstrates that Asian pediatric thyroid nodules had higher ROM than those from adults. The prototypic outputs of TBSRTC may need to be adjusted in the pediatric population.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 2015-2020
Author(s):  
Shireen Hamid ◽  
Aman ur Rehman ◽  
Muhammad Kashif Baig ◽  
Uzma Aslam ◽  
Nausheen Heena ◽  
...  

Objectives: For the past 20 years Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) has evolved as the most sensitive diagnostic tool for the initial screening of patients with thyroid nodules. Unfortunately FNAC is complicated by a recognized false negative rate of approximately 5%. The clinicians could face the difficulty in the management of patient when a cytological diagnosis is atypical only. The objective of study is to evaluate the positive predictive value (PPV) of atypical thyroid cytology cases according to the Bethesda system taking histopathology as gold standard. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Department of Pathology at Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore. Period: Six months i.e. from 25.11.2014 to 25.5.2015. Materials and Methods: Patients presenting with solitary thyroid nodules in the outpatient department and fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included after evaluation by thyroid function tests and thyroid scan, FNAC was performed and reported according to Bethesda system of thyroid reporting. Later on, cases underwent lobectomy, total or hemi-thyroidectomy, the tissue was received in 10% formalin solution in our pathology department and then processed, stained and examined. FNAC results of atypical cases were then compared with the definitive histological diagnosis which were considered the gold standard. The slides were examined and any differences were sought by consensus of two pathologists. Eighty cases were observed with 95% confidence level, 11% margin of error, using non-probability purposive sampling technique for sample collection. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 15 (P value <0.05). Results: The mean age of patients was 38 years with SD ± 2.16. There were 22 (28%) males and 58 (72%) females in our study. In this study, positive predictive value for Atypia of undetermined significance/ Follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS), follicular neoplasm (FN), suspicious for malignancy and positive for malignancy were 33.3%, 25%, 66.6% and 100% respectively. Overall PPV of atypical cytology was 35.71%. Overall accuracy of FNAC was 86.30%, 87.50% sensitivity and 86.15% specificity, PPV value 43.75% and negative predictive value was 98.25%. Conclusion: Results showed that Bethesda system of reporting is helpful for the management of patients who falls in to undetermined categories as it categorically divide atypical cytology cases in to three definite categories  AUS, FN and suspicious for malignancy and these categories have different risks of malignancy. Thus can help to determine a better patient outcome due to proper clinical management of thyroid swellings.


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