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Benign

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Book cover The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology

Abstract

Thyroid fine needle aspiration (FNA) derives much of its clinical value from its ability to reliably identify benign thyroid nodules, thus sparing many patients with nodular thyroid disease unnecessary surgery. Because most thyroid nodules are benign, a benign result is the most common FNA interpretation (approximately 60–70% of all cases). The term “Benign” is recommended to report benign thyroid cytopathology results. These are further sub-classified as benign follicular nodule, thyroiditis, or other less common entities. The designation “benign follicular nodule” applies to a cytologic sample that is adequate for evaluation and consists predominantly of colloid and benign-appearing follicular cells in varying proportions. The designation “lymphocytic thyroiditis” applies to a cytologic sample composed of many polymorphic lymphoid cells associated with benign thyroid follicular cells and/or Hürthle (oncocytic) cells. Benign cytopathology is associated with a very low risk of malignancy (<3%), and patients are usually followed conservatively with periodic clinical and radiologic examinations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Ave. L-25, Cleveland, OH, 44195, USA

    Tarik M. Elsheikh

  2. Department of Pathology, Cochin Hospital-University Paris 5, Paris, France

    Béatrix Cochand-Priollet

  3. Department of Pathology, GangNam Severance Hospital/Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Soon Won Hong

  4. Department of Pathology, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA

    Mary K. Sidawy

Authors
  1. Tarik M. Elsheikh
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  2. Béatrix Cochand-Priollet
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  3. Soon Won Hong
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  4. Mary K. Sidawy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tarik M. Elsheikh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital/The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Syed Z. Ali

  2. Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Edmund S. Cibas

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Elsheikh, T.M., Cochand-Priollet, B., Hong, S.W., Sidawy, M.K. (2018). Benign. In: Ali, S., Cibas, E. (eds) The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60570-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60570-8_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-60569-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-60570-8

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