title: Morphologic predictors of papillary carcinoma on fine-needle aspiration of thyroid with ThinPrep preparations.
abstract: Although the cytologic features of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid are well-known, none is entirely specific. We conducted this study to determine the minimal criteria necessary to achieve 100% specificity for the diagnosis of papillary carcinoma on fine-needle aspiration (FNA). Forty patients with histologically confirmed papillary carcinoma and 17 patients with other thyroid lesions who underwent preoperative FNA at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center during a 4-yr period were included in the study. All cytology slides were prepared with the ThinPrep processing technique. Various architectural and nuclear features were evaluated, with a score assigned to each feature, and correlated with the histologic diagnosis of papillary carcinoma. Intranuclear inclusions, papillary and/or sheet arrangements, nuclear grooves, powdery chromatin, nuclear molding, high cellularity, and small nucleoli were significantly associated with papillary carcinoma (P < 0.05). The requirement of any intranuclear inclusions and many nuclear grooves, or a minimum of sum of scores (of the above eight features) of 10, yields 100% specificity and approximately 70% sensitivity. Cases with fewer features can be reported as suspicious or indeterminate for papillary carcinoma. A quantitative/probabilistic approach in the reporting of thyroid FNA provides a practical guide for management of patients with thyroid nodules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic