Imaging machines detect the radioactivity and record it on film to produce a picture showing the distribution of the radioactivity in your thyroid. Hot nodules almost never contain cancer. Most cold nodules are also harmless, but since thyroid cancers usually appear as cold nodules as well, all cold nodules require further study. Ultrasound studies are being ordered less and less often, because needle biopsy will provide the same information, and also can provide cells and tiny tissue fragments for microscopic study by pathologists. Top Needle biopsy Needle biopsy may sound frightening, but a local anesthetic is used, so that usually you will not have much pain, only a sensation of pressure or mild discomfort.
Needle biopsies are of two basic types.
If you are to have a fine needle biopsy, the physician doing it will use a very thin needle to withdraw thyroid cells. Ordinarily, several samples are taken from different parts of the nodule to ensure that the nodule has been studied thoroughly. Since large needle biopsy is done with a bigger needle that can take a core of tissue from the nodule, these larger tissue samples are easier for most pathologists to interpret. However, the fine needle biopsy which is simpler and produces less discomfort is the more commonly performed biopsy procedure. It takes a few days to obtain the final report from the pathologist who examines the biopsy specimens.