Showing papers by "Stephen S. Raab published in 1995"

Pediatric Thyroid Nodules: Disease Demographics and Clinical Management as Determined by Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy

Abstract: Objective. The prevalence of thyroid nodularity in children has been estimated to be 1.8%. The reported prevalence of specific diseases which comprise these nodules is conflicting as evidenced by a reported range of malignancy of 2 to 50% in solitary nodules. In order to better classify pediatric (<18 years old) thyroid disease and evaluate the utility of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in this patient population, we retrospectively reviewed 66 FNABs from 64 thyroid nodules and 2 perithyroid lymph nodes from 57 patients. Methodology. Patients: The study was composed of 8 males and 49 females who ranged in age from 1 to 18 years old (mean=13.1). Design: Surgical and/or clinical follow-up was obtained in all patients. The 66 FNAB diagnoses were initially classified into specific diseases. However, for the purpose of this review, the cases were classified as: 3 insufficient, 51 benign, 8 suspicious, and 4 malignant. Results. There were no «false positives» and one «false negative» (a papillary carcinoma was misdiagnosed as a benign nodule). Overall, 10 patients (18%) had malignant thyroid lesions, including 8 papillary carcinomas and 2 follicular carcinomas. Benign diagnoses included benign nodule, cyst, lymphocytic thyroiditis, granulomatous thyroiditis, hyperplasia, and abscess. Conclusions. The prevalence of malignancy in pediatric patients with thyroid nodules was 18%. We conclude that, because of its high diagnostic accuracy and minimal invasiveness, FNAB is useful in the management of pediatric thyroid nodules

Atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance. Cytologic criteria to separate clinically significant from benign lesions.

Abstract: Histologic follow-up of the cervical-vaginal smear diagnosis of atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS) shows a broad spectrum of clinically significant (preneoplastic or neoplastic) and benign lesions. There are few statistical studies that have attempted to separate these AGUS categories based on select cytologic criteria. The authors retrospectively reviewed 116 AGUS without concurrent squamous dysplasia smears (66 clinically significant and 50 benign lesions), and used logistic regression analysis to identify the cytologic criteria of irregular nuclear membranes, atypical single cells, and decreased cytoplasm as useful in separating clinically significant from benign lesions. Using contingency tables, these criteria in combination had a sensitivity 29% and a specificity of 94% in the diagnosis of clinically significant lesions. If any single criterion was present, the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 28%, respectively. In conclusion, by using key cytologic criteria, a percentage of benign AGUS lesions can be separated from clinically significant AGUS lesions.

Pathology and probability. Likelihood ratios and receiver operating characteristic curves in the interpretation of bronchial brush specimens.

Abstract: Diagnoses in pathology often are qualitative, such as atypical or suspicious, and consequently are thought to have limited clinical value. To investigate the utility of a qualitative diagnostic system, seven pathologists retrospectively evaluated 100 bronchial brush specimens using the following categories : definitely benign, probably Benign, possibly malignant, probably malignant, and definitely malignant. The likelihood ratio (LR) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, two statistical probabilistic measurements, were used to calculate diagnostic accuracy among individuals and groups. The results show : (1) the LR for individual diagnostic categories varied among observers, resulting in different clinically malignant probabilities ; (2) observer experience did not appear to play a role in overall diagnostic accuracy, except in the diagnosis of small cell carcinoma ; (3) observers operate at higher levels of diagnostic accuracy with, rather than without, clinical history. The authors conclude that qualitative diagnoses contain important information and can be interpreted effectively with LR and ROC. (Key words : Statistics ; Anatomic pathology ; Cytology ; Diagnosis ; Quality assurance/control) Am J Clin Pathol 1995 ;103 :588-593.