Measurement of Thyroglobulin Levels in Fine-Needle Aspiration Samples of Lymph Nodes

ABSTRACT

Either recurrence or regional metastasis of differentiated thyroid carcinomas is often observed in cervical lymph nodes. Consequently, cytologic evaluation accompanied by fine-needle aspiration biopsy is applied to most of the suspected lymph nodes. Considering insufficient cellularity, poor sampling or the lack of competence of the cytologist, 20-50% of samples remain undiagnosed. Measurement of thyroglobulin levels in fine-needle aspiration washouts may help to resolve these challenging issues.