Influence of presence/absence of thyroid gland on the cutoff value for thyroglobulin in lymph-node aspiration to detect metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma

摘要

BackgroundThyroglobulin measurement with fine-needle aspiration (Tg-FNA) is a sensitive method for detecting metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). However, the diagnostic threshold is not well established and the influence of the thyroid gland on the cutoff value is also controversial. In this study, patients were classified into two groups according to the presence or absence of thyroid tissue, to determine an appropriate cutoff value for clinical practice.