Nuclear crease as a cytodiagnostic feature of papillary thyroid carcinoma in fine‐needle aspiration biopsies

Abstract

Nuclear crease or grooving was found to be a diagnostic feature of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) biopsies. The FNA biopsies of 37 cases of PTC, 50 cases of multinodular goiter, and 50 cases of follicular neoplasms (45 follicular adenomas and five follicular carcinomas) were examined. The diagnosis was histologically verified in all the cases. The nuclear crease was found to be present in 34 of 37 cases of PTC and in two of five cases of follicular carcinoma. There was no nuclear crease in any of the other cases examined. Thus, it is concluded that the nuclear crease is a fairly constant and characteristic feature of PTC in FNA biopsies and can be used as a valuable diagnostic criterion.

Papillary thyroid carcinoma: an update

“…Clear nuclei are found in over 80% of such lesions, intranuclear inclusions in about 80-85%, and nuclear grooves are seen in almost all the cases. 3,4,26,[31][32][33] Mitoses are exceptional in usual papillary carcinoma. Psammoma bodies that represent the 'ghosts' of dead papillae are differentiated from dystrophic calcifications by lamellations.…”

Histopathology of Thyroid Tumors. An Overview

“…Classical or non-otherwise specified (NOS) papillary carcinoma is characterized by the formation of papillae and a set of distinctive nuclear features (optically clear appearance, overlapping, pseudoinclusions and nuclear grooves) (Figure 1C, 1D) 2, [16][17][18] . The size of papillary carcinoma is extremely variable with a mean diameter of 2-3 cm 2 .…”

“Histiocytoid” cells in fine-needle aspirations of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

“…T he cytologic features of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, both classic and variant types, have been well described. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The majority of tumors show classic cytologic features and, in particular, nuclear features. We believe, however, that there is an under-recognized cell type, seen in a minority of tumors, that was described by Kini (see Fig.…”