Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Fine-Needle Cytology Quality in Thyroid Nodules with 22-, 23-, and 25-Gauge Needles

Figure 4

HE-stained cytological smears of thyroid nodules obtained by FNC (10x magnification). Cytological smear of a nodule obtained by 25-gauge needle, with clean background, scattered but plenty of tissues, clear structures, and follicular epithelial cells (a); smear of the same nodule obtained by 23-gauge needle, with disordered background, plenty of blood cells, and partially overlapped cells (b); smear of the same nodule obtained by 22-gauge needle, with cleaner background, less blood clots, and basically, clear structures (c).

(a)

(b)

(c)