VALUE OF FINE-NEEDLE BIOPSY IN GOITER SURGERY

With respect to the low incidence of thyroid cancer, a safe method is needed to identify a malignant lesion before surgery. The easy accessability of the thyroid gland predisposes this organ to a fine-needle biopsy, which is simple, quick, and can be performed on an outpatient basis. Owing to the systematic use of fine-needle aspiration biopsies, prophylactic surgery has become necessary only in every tenth patient, since benign degenerative changes are the main cause of hypofunctioning thyroid nodules. However, each clinically or cytologically suspicious finding should definitely be operated on. © 1979 Springer-Verlag.