title: Fine-needle aspiration cytology of type A thymoma with adenoid cystic pattern: a case report with emphasis on peculiar hyaline globules in cytologic smear.
abstract: Here we report a case of type A thymoma with adenoid cystic pattern, which extended to the lower anterior neck and clinically mimicked a nontoxic thyroid goiter. The cytologic smears of fine-needle aspiration showed cohesive fragments of short spindle cells with finely granular chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. Scant interspersed lymphocytes were present. On air-dried Liu stained preparation, there were many magenta-colored hyaline globules wrapped by spindle tumor cells. The cytomorphologic findings correlated with the adenoid cystic pattern in histology. The cytologic differential diagnosis and the prognostic aspects of type A thymoma were briefly discussed.
authors: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 11217, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors: Jen-Fan
authors: JF
authors: Hang
authors: Chih-Yi
authors: CY
authors: Hsu
authors: Chung-Ru
authors: CR
authors: Lai
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D003528:Carcinoma, Adenoid Cystic / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006042:Goiter / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D006818:Hyalin / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D013945:Thymoma / Q000473:pathology*; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: adenoid cystic pattern; fine-needle aspiration; hyaline globule; spindle-cell thymoma; type A thymoma