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. 2022 Feb;23(2):117.
doi: 10.3892/etm.2021.11040. Epub 2021 Dec 6.

Cytomorphological study of thyroid carcinoma

Iuliana Mohorea  1   2 , Dana Terzea  3 , Daniela Mihalache  2   4 , Bogdan Socea  5   6 , Dragoş Şerban  5   7 , Mihai Ceausu  1
Affiliations

Cytomorphological study of thyroid carcinoma

Iuliana Mohorea et al. Exp Ther Med. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

The most common neoplasm of the endocrine system is found in the thyroid gland with a significant increase in recent decades largely due to modern diagnostic methods. Thyroid tumors generally have a favorable evolution, but there are also aggressive variants with a poor prognosis. In these aggressive tumors, the most reliable method of detecting and making a differential diagnosis is represented by ultrasound-guided fine-needle cytopuncture, confirmed by histopathological examination. Although fine-needle aspiration puncture and cytological examination are considered to have a high sensitivity and specificity, diagnostic certainty is established later only by histopathological examination. Fine-needle aspiration cytopuncture of the thyroid gland correlated with histopathological examination has played a crucial role in recognizing and identifying variants of papillary carcinoma known to have aggressive biological behavior, especially in cases of poorly differentiated carcinoma. Recognition of aggressive variants of papillary carcinoma is of major importance in the prognosis and clinical management of patients. The aim of this study was to present the correlations found in a series of thyroid tumors from patients treated in surgery and oncology departments, as well as tumors accidentally detected during autopsies in the department of forensics. All the cases selected in the study benefited from a complex histopathological diagnosis adapted to each case in order to ensure maximum efficiency.

Keywords: cytopuncture of the thyroid; fine-needle aspiration; histopathology; thyroid carcinoma; thyroid cytomorphology; thyroid tumors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Papillary thyroid carcinoma. Papillary thyroid carcinoma identified using cytology and PAP. Inset: papillary carcinoma showing tall cell variant; magnification, x400.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Papillary thyroid carcinoma. Follicular variant with micro-calcifications identified via hematoxylin and eosin; magnification, x400.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Papillary thyroid carcinoma. Details with optical clear nuclei and visible nucleoli. Identified using hematoxylin and eosin; magnification, x200.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma identified using cytology and PAP; magnification, x200.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Medullary thyroid carcinoma. Medullary thyroid carcinoma identified using cytology and PAP; magnification, x400.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Squamous cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma of the thyroid, identified using hematoxylin and eosin; magnification, x400.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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