Thyroid and Meta Hunter

Publications in recent years have extensively discussed the expediency of investigation by Meta Hunter NLS of the thyroid in the presence of aspiration biopsy results. It is well known that cytology is the most widely applicable method for the preoperative diagnosis of nodular goiter because of its easy availability, relatively low cost, noninvasiveness, and most importantly, its high accuracy. Advances in the use of cytologic techniques to diagnose thyroid tumors have prompted some investigators to become results-oriented in their choice of surgical approach.

Among some of the main problems of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) performed under the control of ultrasonography (US), we can mention the volume of aspiration that is not sufficient for diagnosis and some cases that do not allow the exclusion of a malignant process in the following nodes of investigation. While in the former case repeat surgery may be effective in 30% of patients, another issue needs to be addressed by surgical resection of the tumor followed by histological verification of its pattern.

According to some publications, the number of tumors for which malignant potential cannot be excluded based on FNAB results exceeds 11%. In most cases (approximately 70%), this diagnostic problem is caused by a follicular adenoma.

The question of FNAB accuracy is equally important. According to some recent reports, the sensitivity and specificity of thyroid FNAB have approached 100%. At the same time, it is difficult to interpret the data due to different analysis methods. For example, experts in some clinics only consider specific cytological conclusions when the results are very accurate, while ignoring a type of tumor, and cytological pictures only provide the basis for suspicion of malignant changes. When analyzing FNAB accuracy, some researchers consider follicular adenomas to be in the same category as malignancies. Although this approach may be sound in terms of surgical indications, it is by no means sound in terms of the surgical approach chosen. Analysis of several publications showed that FNAB only ensures correct surgical approach in 70-75% of cases. The FNAB efficiency data evaluated after classifying suspicious cancer conclusions as malignant and adenomas as benign were as follows: Sensitivity - 92.1%, Specificity - 94.4%, Accuracy - 93.45. Therefore, the fact that FNAB data can help determine the appropriate surgical volume in 90% of patients cannot be justified in terms of specialist clinics and is an argument in favor of supplementing FNAB with NLS surveys.

Performing Meta Hunter NLS for patients after FNAB significantly improved the accuracy of morphological studies in the primary phase and optimized the surgical approach for thyroid surgery.