Zq. Yan et al., A low-power, "architectural," clue to the follicular variant of papillary thyroid adenocarcinoma in aspiration biopsy, ACT CYTOL, 44(2), 2000, pp. 211-217
Citations number
36
Categorie Soggetti
Research/Laboratory Medicine & Medical Tecnology","Medical Research Diagnosis & Treatment
OBJECTIVE: To search for low-power, or "architectural, " clues to the diagn
osis of the follicular variant of papillary thyroid adenocarcinoma (FVP) in
Diff-Quik-stained aspiration biopsy smears in order to aid in the rapid di
agnosis of FVP, espe- cially as a complement to frozen sections.
STUDY DESIGN: The smears of 23 cases, each with tissue-proven FVP, were com
pared to those of 23 cases of classic papillary thyroid adenocarcinoma (PTA
), 23 cases of tissue-proven follicular neoplasms (FN) (i.e., adenoma or we
ll-differentiated adenocarcinoma) and 23 samples of colloid nodules (CN). T
he low-power (10x) features of the four groups were studied and compared.
RESULTS: Our study showed that FVP exhibited mono-layered cellular sheets w
ith branched, irregular contours, which can be distinguished from the unifo
rm microfollicles with smooth contours formed in FN and the large, round or
oval monolayered sheets of follicular cells from in CN. FVP shared all of
the features of classic PTA except for the larger, complex sheets of epithe
lial cells and psammoma bodies found in the latter.
CONCLUSION: The branched sheets of epithelial cells evident during low-powe
r examination of Diff-Quik-stained smears of thyroid aspirates are a ready
first clue to the rapid diagnosis of FVP. The diagnosis can be confirmed by
subsequent careful evaluation of nuclei in Papanicolaou-stained smears and
sections of tissue.