Aspiration biopsy cytology in diagnosis of thyroid cancer

Aspiration biopsy cytology (ABC) is a diagnostic method that has been used extensively in Sweden for a quarter of a century. The technical steps involved in this biopsy procedure are described, and the differences from large needle biopsy techniques are pointed out. An overview is given of the different pathologic conditions that present as thyroid nodules and are recognizable by ABC. The accuracy of the method as a preoperative diagnostic tool has been shown to be superior to other clinical methods. ABC enables the surgeon not only to better select patients with thyroid nodules for surgery, but also to plan a definite operative strategy in papillary, medullary, and anaplastic neoplasms. In follicular neoplasms, however, the method cannot distinguish with certainty between adenoma and carcinoma. ABC has drastically reduced the number of diagnostic surgical operations for benign lesions. It requires no anesthesia. It has no complications and there is good patient acceptance, even in children.