Trends in Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology - Results from the Italian Cytopathology Committee National Practice Survey

Objective. To understand the state of the art of Italian thyroid cytopathology practice, a survey was sent by the Italian Committee of cytopathology to the 846 registered emails of the Italian society of pathology and cytology (SIAPEC) members. Methods. A survey divided in 4 sections (geographic distribution, pre-analytics, diagnostic work up, molecular testing) was sent to SIAPEC members in April 2023. An additional set of questions regarding molecular analysis was sent to first round participants. Results. A total of 104/846 (12.2%) SIAPEC members replied to the survey. Non-pathologist physicians performed FNA in the majority of cases (78/104, 75%). The Italian Consensus for the Classification and Reporting of Thyroid Cytology (ICCRTC) system is adopted by most centers (94/104 90,38%), although in 32.6% it was used along with other classifications systems. Only 44/104 (42.2%) of the participants performed molecular tests on thyroid FNA, mostly upon requests from the caring physician (25/41, 61.1%). Conclusion. This survey offers a snapshot of the current Italian thyroid FNA practice. The volume of thyroid FNA performed is similar to the pre-Covid workload and the ICCRTC is the most frequently adopted classification system. Molecular tests are performed by a significant minority of participants, with different testing modalities and clinical-pathological indications.