Evaluation of Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid FNAC in Rural Setup

Aims and Objectives: The present research was undertaken to study the diagnostic utility of TBSRTC at our institution and correlate the cytological diagnosis with the histological diagnosis wherever available. Methods: A total of 108 patients with thyroid swellings were subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) during a period of 10 months i.e. from January 2016 to October 2016 were included in the study. Out of these 31 patients (28.70%) underwent surgery subsequently and histopathological examination was done. Cytological diagnosis was compared with histopathology diagnosis wherever it was available. Results: Out of 108 patients, majority were females (87.03%) and in younger age group (n = 66 [61.11%], 21–40 years). The FNAC diagnosis was categorized as unsatisfactory (2.77%), benign (87.03%), Atypia of Undetermined Significance (0.92%), Follicular/ Hurthle cell neoplasm (4.62%), suspicious for malignancy (0.92%) and malignant (3.70%). The malignancy rate for benign category was 4.5%, 20% for follicular neoplasm, 100% for each suspicious for malignancy and malignant category. 29 cases (93.54%) out of 31 had a consistent cytological diagnosis with histological diagnosis while 2 cases (6.45%) showed discordance. There was a good correlation between cytological and histopathological diagnosis. Conclusion: The Bethesda system is very useful standardized system of reporting thyroid cytopathology. It improves communication between cytopathologist's and clinicians, leading to more consistent management approaches.