Kuna Rajani, Sala Krishnakumari
BACKGROUND Thyroid lesions are very common in coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh and can be accurately diagnosed on cytology. Due to lack of standardised system of reporting thyroid aspirates, there is lot of confusion between the terminologies used by the pathologist and clinicians, hence a need for reporting system which can narrow the gap. The aim of the study is to study the distribution of various thyroid lesions on cytology adopting The Bethesda System for reporting Thyroid Cytopathology in a rural hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS It is an observational study for a period of 2 years from January 2015 to December 2016. 218 cases of thyroid lesions were aspirated during this period both by aspiration and non-aspiration techniques. The cytology smears were reported by adopting Bethesda reporting system dividing into 6 diagnostic criteria. RESULTS Male: Female ratio was 1:6.5. Thyroid lesions were common in the age group of 21-40 years (46.33%). In category II, nodular and colloid goitres were common (62.38%). Lesions in the category III (atypia of undetermined significance or follicular lesions of undetermined significance) constituted 6.42% of lesions and follicular adenoma (Category IV) was 4.58%. Lesions in the category V (suspicious of malignancy) was 3.21% and category VI (Malignant lesions) constituted 2.75% of lesions. CONCLUSION The overlap features of follicular lesions with atypical features could be easily categorised by adopting Bethesda system into categories like follicular lesions of undetermined significance and suspicious of malignancy, which guides the clinician for appropriate management.
