Health Information
Thyroid Biopsy
What To Think About
- A normal (negative) report on a thyroid biopsy does not mean for sure that the thyroid gland is healthy. It is possible that a problem may have been missed. Many thyroid tumors are small, and the biopsy sample may come from an area of the thyroid that is free from disease. A fine-needle biopsy can have a Reference false-negative Opens New Window result.
- Your doctor may not be able to use a needle biopsy to find out what is causing your symptoms. An open thyroid biopsy may be needed.
- If a Reference thyroid nodule Opens New Window is found and thyroid hormone levels are normal, most doctors recommend a thyroid needle biopsy instead of a radioactive thyroid scan. For more information, see the topics Reference Thyroid Scan and Reference Radioactive Iodine Uptake Test.
- If a thyroid nodule is found and high thyroid levels are present, a radioactive iodine uptake (RAIU) test and a thyroid scan are generally recommended before a thyroid biopsy. Nodules that cause hyperthyroidism are generally noncancerous (benign) and can be treated with medicine or radioactive iodine. For more information, see the topic Reference Radioactive Iodine Uptake Test.
| By: | Reference Healthwise Staff | Last Revised: Reference May 31, 2011 |
| Medical Review: | Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology |
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