FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION CYTOLOGY DIAGNOSIS OF NON-HODGKIN-LYMPHOMA OF THYROID - A REPORT OF 4 CASES

Four cases of non-Hodgkin lymphoma of thyroid, diagnosed by fine-needl e aspiration (FNA) cytology during a period of 3 1/2 yr constituted 0. 2% of 1,716 thyroid FNAs and 3.4% of 118 thyroid neoplasms. The age of the patients ranged from 42 to 78 yr with an average of 63 yr and all were females. Three cases had thyroid swellings, and one case had cer vical lymphadenopathy and fullness in the thyroid region. The lymphoma s were categorized as mixed small and large cell lymphomas, large cell lymphoma, small noncleaved lymphoma (non-Burkitt-type), and plasmacyt oid lymphoma. Histopathology as well as immunohistochemistry confirmed the cytodiagnosis of lymphoma in the first and fourth cases. In the s econd case where possibility of anaplastic carcinoma could not be rule d out altogether at initial cytologic examination, the histopathology report was undifferentiated carcinoma but immunohistochemically it was proved to be a B-cell neoplasm. (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.