Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology has been shown to be simple, safe, cost effective and quick to perform procedure with excellent patient compliance. It is a well established technique for preoperative investigation of thyroid gland swellings with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of thyroid swellings performed at our institution. Materials and Methods: This study was carried out at American International Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital Udaipur, department of Pathology over a period of 2 years (May 2015 to May 2017). One hundred and ninety patients of all age groups and both sexes who underwent fine needle aspiration cytology for thyroid swelling were evaluated. Out of 190 patients, histopathological diagnosis was carried out in 69 patients. Results: Fine needle aspiration cytology result revealed 156 cases (82.10%) as non-neoplastic, 20 cases (10.52%) as neoplastic and 14 cases (7.38%) inadequate due to lack of cellularity. The commonest lesion in the thyroid gland was colloid goiter. Among the malignant neoplasms the commonest was papillary carcinoma. Out of 176 patients, histopathological diagnosis was available in 69 patients. Statistical analysis of our data shows the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology to be 91.30%. Fine needle aspiration cytology showed a sensitivity of 90.90% and a specificity of 91.37%. Conclusion: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a well established technique for pre operative investigation of thyroid gland swellings with high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.

Keywords: FNAC; Sensitivity; Accuracy.