Chromatin texture from hematoxylin stained thyroid lesions

Quantitative aspects of cytology and histology should be considered in diag nostic standardisation processes. The present paper summarises the cytologi cal differences detected in 75 thyroid lesions using a computerized textura l analysis. Cells stained with progressive hematoxylin and taken from paraffin blocks w ere overlaid with the extracted texture. This technique was based on the li neal detection of a grey level gradient of the common logarithm of the inte grated optical density (IOD) of each nucleus. Diffuse and nodular goiters (36 cases) were demonstrated to be composed of small cells containing high density texture that, on microscopical visual i nspection, gave a "salt and pepper" appearance. The adenomatous goiters (2 cases) and adenomas (26 cases) were composed of low texture cells with a vi sual "blurry or smudgy" chromatin, while the atypical adenomas with capsula r invasion (4 cases) were characterised by a "woodworm" nuclear appearance that produced the highest texture of the series. Finally, encapsulated foll iculo-papillary carcinomas (3 cases) were composed of large clear nuclei wi th high IOD, low texture, and scattered lines that resulted in an "empty gr ape skin" aspect. Our findings seam to confirm the suitability of computerized textural techn iques that aid in recognizing cell microscopic features objectively. The on e used in the present work, based on a mathematical function of the DNA con tent of each individual nucleus (IOD), fulfills all microscopy detection cr iteria.