Our study concluded that FNAC reporting using TBSRTC highly correlated with the histopathological diagnosis and our results were comparable with published data. The FNAC diagnosis helps in triaging patients with STN and identifies those who require surgical intervention. It is a simple, convenient, cost effective, sensitive, specific, safe and accurate initial diagnostic method for the preoperative evaluation of STN.

BackgroundThe Bethesda system for reporting thyroid cytopathology (TBSRTC) was introduced to standardize the communication of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) interpretation between clinicians and pathologists. This study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic utility of TBSRTC for reporting thyroid FNACs and rate of malignancy in each diagnostic category of TBSRTC.MethodsA total of 603 thyroid FNAC results were retrieved retrospectively between July 2012 and January 2015 and reclassified according to TBSRTC. Of these, 392 cases had a histopathological follow-up. The FNACs results were compared to the histopathological diagnoses and the malignancy rates of each diagnostic categories of TBSRTC were calculated.ResultsOf the 603 FNACs, nondiagnostic were 16 (2.7%), benign were 393 (65.2%), atypia of undetermined significance/follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS) were 60 (10%), follicular neoplasm/suspicious for a follicular neoplasm (FN/SFN) were 64 (10.6%), suspicious for malignancy (SM) were 32 (5.3%), and malignant were 38 (6.3%). In 392 cases, there was follow-up histopathology. The malignancy rate for nondiagnostic, benign, AUS/FLUS, FN/SFN, SM, and malignant categories were 0%, 0.8%, 24.4%, 28.9%, 70.8%, and 100%, respectively.ConclusionOur study validated the efficacy of TBSRTC. In conclusion, the malignancy rate of AUS/FLUS in this study was higher than the risk mentioned in TBSRTC and other published studies. Hence, AUS/FLUS category patients in our setup warrant further workup including ultrasound and/or thyroid scan in addition to immediate repeat FNAC.

BACKGROUND: An important component of laboratory medicine is preanalytical phase. Since laboratory report plays a major role in patient management, more importance should be given to the quality of laboratory tests. AIM: The present study was undertaken to find the prevalence and types of preanalytical errors at a tertiary care hospital in South India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 118,732 samples ([62,474 outpatient department [OPD] and 56,258 inpatient department [IPD]) were received in hematology laboratory. These samples were analyzed for preanalytical errors such as misidentification, incorrect vials, inadequate samples, clotted samples, diluted samples, and hemolyzed samples. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of preanalytical errors found was 513 samples, which is 0.43% of the total number of samples received. The most common preanalytical error observed was inadequate samples followed by clotted samples. Overall frequencies (both OPD and IPD) of preanalytical errors such as misidentification, incorrect vials, inadequate samples, clotted samples, diluted samples, and hemolyzed samples were 0.02%, 0.05%, 0.2%, 0.12%, 0.02%, and 0.03%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study concluded that incorrect phlebotomy techniques due to lack of awareness is the main reason for preanalytical errors. This can be avoided by proper communication and coordination between laboratory and wards, proper training and continuing medical education programs for laboratory and paramedical staffs, and knowledge of the intervening factors that can influence laboratory results.

Our study concluded that FNAC reporting using NCI guidelines highly correlated with the histopathological diagnosis.

Background:In 1996, National Cancer Institute (NCI) proposed five categories for the diagnosis of breast cytology in order to bring a degree of uniformity to the diagnostic reporting. Of these, categories 3 and 4 were sparsely studied.Aims:The present study was undertaken for the evaluation of the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) categories of C3 and C4 in the breast lump and its histopathological correlation.Materials and Methods:In the retrospective study, a total number of 728 FNACs were categorized according to the NCI; of these, 28 cases of category C3 and 65 cases of category C4 were compared with histopathological diagnoses.Results:On histopathological examination of category C3, 18 (64.3%) cases showed benign lesions and 10 (35.7%) cases showed malignancy and among the C4 category, benign lesions found in nine (13.8%) and malignancy found in 56 (86.2%) cases. There was a significant statistical difference between the number of benign and malignant diagnoses for cytological categories of C3 (64.3%) and C4 (86.2%) (P < 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of C4 category in the diagnoses of malignancy were 84.8%, 66.7%, 86.2%, and 64.3%, respectively.Conclusion:FNAC of the breasts is a simple, cost-effective, accurate, quick, and relatively less painful procedure, and it continues to play an integral part in the management of breast lesions. Our study concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of benign and malignant diagnoses for categories of C3 and C4.