Thyroglossal duct cysts: diagnostic criteria by fine-needle aspiration.

OBJECTIVE

To document the cytologic diagnostic criteria of fine-needle aspirations of thyroglossal cysts.

DESIGN

Midline cervical masses were studied by fine-needle aspiration, and those 11 thyroglossal cysts that were resected served as a baseline for the evaluation of aspirates from 33 similar lesions that were not removed.

SETTING

Physicians' offices, hospital outpatient clinics, and the aspiration service of a university department of pathology.

PATIENTS: Forty-four patients noting a mass in the anterior neck or found by physicians to have such a mass.

INTERVENTIONS: Fifty-one aspirations (second aspirates in seven patients); surgical removal of the cysts in 11 patients.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Aspirates were examined for cells, other particulate matter, and any extracellular material in the background.

RESULTS

Smears from thyroglossal cysts are low in cellularity, and inflammatory cells are more numerous than epithelial cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Fine-needle aspiration contributes to an accurate preoperative diagnosis of thyroglossal cysts, allowing a Sistrunk procedure to be performed in these patients rather than an inappropriate local resection.