Comparison of Fine Needle Aspiration and Fine Needle Nonaspiration Cytology of Thyroid Nodules: A Meta-Analysis

Table 1

The Mair et al. scoring system [22].

Criteria	Quantitative description	Point score
Background blood/clot	Large amount, great compromise of diagnosis	0
	Moderate amount, diagnosis possible	1
	Minimal amount, diagnosis	2
Amount of cellular material	Minimal to absent, diagnosis not possible	0
	Sufficient for cytodiagnosis	1
	Abundant, diagnosis possible	2
Degree of cellular degeneration	Marked, diagnosis impossible	0
	Moderate, diagnosis possible	1
	Minimal, diagnosis easy	2
Degree of cellular trauma	Marked, diagnosis impossible	0
	Moderate, diagnosis possible	1
	Minimal, diagnosis obvious	2
Retention of appropriate architecture	Minimal to absent nondiagnostic	0
	Moderate, some preservation of, for example, follicle, papillae, and acini	1
	Excellent architectural display closely reflecting histology, diagnosis obvious	2