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James C. Andrews, MD; Marilyn C. Zimmerman, MD; Dennis M. Moore, MD
UCLA School of Medicine Los Angeles

JAMA. 1985;254(13):1719.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

In the article entitled "Cervical Lipomas Masquerading as Thyroid Nodules," authors Leonidas et al¹ conclude by recommending computed tomographic (CT) scanning to evaluate and differentiate "cold" nodules of the thyroid from extrathyroidal tissue, specifically lipomas. We would like to point out a valuable diagnostic test that apparently was overlooked, that of fine-needle aspiration (FNA).

This modality has been successfully and safely used in the diagnosis of head and neck tumors since the 1930s. Fine-needle aspiration has been found to be highly accurate in its diagnostic capabilities, notably in establishing the diagnosis of "cold" solid thyroid nodules.^2,3 With aspiration cytology, unnecessary surgery and excessive radiation exposure can often be avoided.⁴ In an exhaustive review of the literature on FNA of thyroid nodules, Ashcraft and Van Herle⁵ report an impressive diagnostic reliability of 97.8%, with an overall false-negative incidence of malignancy in 1.7%, and a . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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