Substantial proportion of patients with symptoms of GERD has abnormal endoscopic findings around the gastroesophageal junction.

Objectives: To determine the validity of Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in diagnosing thyroid neoplasms and to identify the causes of false positive and negative results. Method:Thyroid FNACs of 100 patients with subsequent histology were analysed. The diagnostic categories used included Thy 1 to Thy 5. Thy 3 was subdivided into Thy 3a and Thy 3b depending on the presence or absence of features suggestive of a follicular neoplasm. Histology results were categorized as neoplastic or non neoplastic. Results of FNACs were correlated with histology.Results: FNAC predicted the presence of neoplasms with a sensitivity of 77.7.8%, specificity of 83% and had a diagnostic accuracy of 90%. The false negative rate was 8% and the cause was non diagnosis of impalpable papillary micro carcinomas.Conclusion: Sensitivity could be increased by ultrasound scan guided aspiration in non palpable lesions. Sub categorization of Thy 3 into a and b increases the specificity of FNAC in detecting thyroid malignancy.

No abstract