Cytology versus calcitonin assay in fine-needle aspiration biopsy wash-out fluid (FNAB-CT) in diagnosis of medullary thyroid microcarcinoma

Purpose Widespread use of sensitive ultrasound examination led to an increasing detection of medullary thyroid microcarcinoma (micro-MTC). This prospective study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of Fine-needle Aspiration Biopsy Cytology (FNAB-C) and calcitonin assay in Fine-needle Aspiration Biopsy wash-out fluid (FNAB-CT) in thyroid nodules less than 1 cm with elevated serum calcitonin(sCT). Methods 87 thyroid nodules from 60 patients with elevated sCT (>10 pg/ml) were included and 51 were thyroid nodules less than 1cm. FNAB-CT and FNAB-C were performed to distinguish medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) lesions before surgery, histopathologic diagnoses served as main reference standards. Results FNAB-CT had a greater performance over FNAB-C for preoperative diagnosis of MTC (diagnostic accuracy: 98.85 vs 61.90%, sensitivity: 98.55 vs 55.07%, specificity: 100 vs 97.44%), especially for micro-MTC: FNAB-C established a sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of 48.78 and 58% respectively, while FNAB-CT reached 97.56% sensitivity and 98.04% diagnostic accuracy. Conclusions FNAB-CT demonstrated high diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing micro-MTC. Patients with microscopic thyroid nodules and elevated sCT level should perform FNAB-CT to exclude the diagnosis of MTC lesions.