Indra Neil Mekala1 , V. Ramachandra2 , T. Jaya Chandra3
BACKGROUND Thyroid swelling is a routinely encountered common clinical problem. Various immunological diseases of the thyroid including hypo- and hyper-thyroid states may present as thyroid enlargement. Clinical evaluation of the thyroid is not always conclusive. Hence, the clinician has to depend on various other diagnostic modalities such as ultrasonography, FNAC etc. to achieve a definitive diagnosis. METHODS It was a prospective study, conducted in the Department of Radiodiagnosis, Bollineni Super Speciality Hospital, Nellore. Individuals with enlarged thyroid gland, of both gender, aged 18 years more were included in the study. Ultrasound scan was performed with a GE LOGIQ 400MD machine using a linear probe of 11 MHz frequency. Longitudinal and transverse scans of the thyroid gland were done with the patient in supine position and head in hyper-extension. The entire gland including the isthmus was examined. Ultrasound guided FNAC was done and the smears were read by the pathologist after conducting appropriate staining techniques whenever necessary. RESULTS Total 30 participants were included, maximum (11) were included in 31 - 40 years category; the female male ratio was 6.5. Among cystic, solid and mixed lesions, our yield was 100% in each category. CONCLUSIONS Ultrasound is a valuable diagnostic tool with almost equal sensitivity and specificity to FNAC in diagnosing thyroid lesions such as colloid goiters with cystic degenerations, haemorrhagic cysts, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and papillary carcinomas.
