title: Sex-related C cell hyperplasia in the normal human thyroid: a quantitative autopsy study.
abstract: We report a prospective quantitative image analysis study of C cells in 57 normal autopsy thyroid glands, serially sectioned and wholly embedded in paraffin; all slides were immunohistochemically stained for calcitonin. Computerized quantitative image analysis was performed on 47 cases to measure C cell surface area and parenchymatous surface area after immunoperoxidase staining for calcitonin. The method was time-effective, with a good reproducibility. C cells were mainly found in the middle third of each lobe. Important inter-individual variations were observed; the maximum C cell surface area in a section (Amax) ranged from 28 x 10(3) to 470 x 10(3) microns2 (mean, 167 x 10(3) microns2) among 42 adults. Of particular interest was the important difference observed between sexes; Amax was twice as high in men (mean, 201 x 10(3) microns2) as in women (mean, 91 x 10(3) microns2; P = 0.0009). Moreover, 14 (33%) adult subjects [2 women (15%) and 12 men (41%)] fulfilled C cell hyperplasia criteria, i.e. at least 3 fields at x 100 magnification containing more than 50 C cells, suggesting that a substantial part of the normal adult population could have C cell hyperplasia.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Anatomie Pathologique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Angers, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guyétant
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Rousselet
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durigon
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chappard
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Franc
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guerin
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Saint-André
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology*