Background: The encapsulated follicular variant (EFV) of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most discussed entity in thyroid pathology. Recently, the question of whether or not EFV-PTC is a malignant entity has been the subject of renewed discussion in the light of recent molecular and clinical studies. The aim of this study was to analyze the malignancy ratios of each category of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC) if EFV-PTC is no longer considered as a malignant entity. Materials and Methods: Data on thyroid fine-needle aspirations (n = 1,886) with surgical follow-up between 1999 and 2014 were studied. EFV-PTC cases constituted 27% (94/343) of the malignant cases. Results: Malignancy ratios were determined as nondiagnostic, benign, atypia/follicular lesion of undetermined significance, suspicious for follicular neoplasm/follicular neoplasm, suspicious for malignancy, and malignant categories of the TBSRTC in 13, 7, 45, 30, 72 and 98%, respectively. If EFV-PTC was not regarded as malignant, malignancy ratios would decrease to 6.5, 6, 30, 10, 48, and 87% for each category in the same order. Conclusions: The current study showed that the most significant decrease in relative malignancy ratios was seen in the suspicious for follicular neoplasm/follicular neoplasm category (66% relative decrease), but all categories represented a considerable decrease.

The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate the diagnostic yield and accuracy of stereotactic biopsy in patients harboring brain mass. Stereotactic biopsy was performed in 130 patients between 1995 and 2000 in an educational and research hospital in Turkey. The results of histological analysis were compared to the resected specimens in 23 patients. The lesions were lobar in 62% of cases and deep-seated in 38% of cases. During the biopsy procedures, the pathologist was in the operating theatre and a very small fragment was used for cytological examination. No frozen section was used in any of the cases. Samples were diagnostic in 122 cases. The overall diagnostic yield of the procedure was 94%. A definitive histological diagnosis was not made in eight patients. The histological diagnoses of the two procedures were identical (complete agreement) in 16 cases. In three cases, the histological diagnoses between the two procedures were slightly different without impact on patient care (minor disagreement). The diagnosis of the stereotactic biopsy was completely changed after craniotomy in four cases (major disagreement). The accuracy of the histological diagnosis was 83%. There was only one major complication, which involved intracerebral hemorrhage. Despite the limited number of patients who underwent resection, our data suggest that stereotactic biopsy of brain masses is a safe and accurate technique that can obtain adequate tissue for histological diagnosis, thus providing the best avaible treatment for patients. Cytological evaluation of the streotactic biopsy also is a highly effective tool for obtaining sufficient material during the procedure in many cases.

Although both treatment methods are found to be effective, the results of topical treatment group showed some superiority over those of systemic treatment group, which may be associated with a higher ocular tissue concentration of azithromycin after topical administration.

This study once again shows that FNAC is a reliable method for the initial evaluation and diagnosis of breast masses. In case of any suspicious conditions, FNAC, and core biopsy are considered complementary to one another.