title: Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of ectopic cervical spindle-cell thymoma: a case report.
abstract: In this report, we describe a case of ectopic cervical thymoma (medullary or type A thymoma, according to the WHO classification) located in the anterior cervical region (thyroid topography) that was submitted to ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy. The cytologic smears were moderately cellular to very cellular and were composed of numerous spindle-shaped cells placed predominantly in tissue fragments, with no specific arrangement. Isolated spindle-shaped cells were also present in a hemorrhagic background. The nuclei were elongated with finely granular chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. Mitosis, nuclear atypia, and necrosis were not detected. There was a scarce lymphoid population of small lymphocytes. The cytologic aspects, the correlation with histologic findings, and the differential cytologic diagnosis are reviewed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05403-000, Brazil. regerhard@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Renê
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gerhard
authors.forename: Elza Hissako
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Kanashiro
authors.forename: Cláudia Mangoni
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kliemann
authors.forename: Adriana Gonçalves
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Juliano
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Chammas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D013945:Thymoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*