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Thirty-two young women who desired sexual reassignment were treated with large doses of androgen for a period of 1 year or more, followed by total hysterectomy. Histological examination revealed marked atrophy of cervical epithelium which could mimic dysplasia, and variable degrees of endometrial atrophy. The ovaries showed occasional corpora lutea indicating that even in the face of long term androgen therapy, ovulation may occur.

A head and neck ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration clinic was set up to determine the role of ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in the evaluation of patients with lesions in this region. One hundred ninety-five lesions were biopsied by ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration in 203 patients. Ultrasound detected 2 or more lesions in 14 (48%) of 29 patients with a clinically solitary thyroid nodule. Three (8.8%) of 34 lesions thought to be within the parotid gland were determined to be external. A pronounced learning curve was evident in the technique of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration, particularly for nonpalpable disease. Adequacy of sampling for each 3-month period was 71%, 89%, and 94%, respectively. Seventy-four percent of central aspirations were satisfactory compared to 54% of peripheral aspirations. Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration did not alter the clinical staging of metastatic neck disease in 8 patients having 10 neck dissections but proved useful in detecting nodal recurrence in 3 irradiated necks that did not proceed to surgery. The smallest node to harbor malignancy had 4-mm maximal axial diameter. We conclude that ultrasound and ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration are valuable adjuncts to the clinical examination.

Secondary cancer of the thyroid is rare and can be detected by fine-needle aspiration biopsy in the face of clinical findings. Where indicated, palliative thyroidectomy can be effective, because other methods of treatment appear ineffective.

Papillary carcinoma (PC) represents the most common malignancy of the thyroid gland. Therefore, the assessment of fine needle aspiration biopsies of thyroid nodules rests heavily on the identification of nuclear features of PC. The ret/PTC oncogene, formed by several gene rearrangements, is specific for PC among thyroid tumors. In this study we examined thyroid aspirates for the presence of ret/PTC gene rearrangements by RT-PCR and Southern hybridization. We prospectively collected thyroid aspirates in Cytolyt solution and prepared slides for cytological examination using the ThinPrep method. All remaining material was then used for nucleic acid extraction with subsequent RT-PCR for the housekeeping gene PGK-1 to ensure ribonucleic acid integrity, for thyroglobulin to ensure the presence of follicular epithelial cells, and for the three most common ret/PTC gene rearrangements (ret/PTC-1, -2, and -3). The results of the first 73 cases with surgical follow-up were correlated with the cytological diagnosis and final histopathology. ret/PTC gene rearrangements were detected in 17 of 33 samples (52%) that were PC on histopathology; the presence of gene rearrangements was confirmed by molecular analysis of corresponding surgically resected frozen tissue. There were no false positives. The identification of ret/PTC gene rearrangements refined the diagnosis of PC in 9 of 15 specimens (60%) that would otherwise have been considered indeterminate and in 2 of 6 that were considered insufficient for cytological diagnosis. The results indicate that RT-PCR for ret/PTC is a specific marker that can be applied to fine needle aspiration biopsies and improves the diagnosis of malignancy when used as an adjunct to traditional cytology.

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A b s t r a c t

A b s t r a c t Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the breast has been used in our institution since 1969. In August 1993 Multiple studies and reviews have shown that fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of the breast is a safe, useful tool for the examination of breast lesions.1-5 Unfortunately, the unsatisfactory rates range from 0% to 32%, often necessitating repeated aspirations, prolonged patient anxiety, and delay in diagnosis. Breast FNA has been used at our institution since 1969, where it is performed as an outpatient clinic procedure. The aspirates were prepared using a conventional smear method until August 1993 when ThinPrep (Cytyc Corp, Boxborough, MA) processing of breast FNA material was introduced in an attempt to reduce the air-drying artifact often seen in the conventionally smeared specimens. The present study compares the cytohistologic correlation and unsatisfactory rates of breast FNA biopsy specimens that have been conventionally prepared with those processed using the ThinPrep method. MethodsThe results from all breast FNA biopsies from 1969 to 1976 and January 1, 1980, to September 30, 1997, were used. Cytohistologic correlations previously compiled for publication 6 and internal review were available.