Cytomorphological Analysis of Thyroid Nodules Diagnosed as Follicular Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: a Fine Needle Aspiration Study of Diagnostic Clues in 42 Cases and the Impact of Using Bethesda System in Reporting—an Institutional Experience

Abstract

Follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (FVPTC) is the second most common subtype of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) after classical PTC (cPTC). Follicular thyroid lesions such as follicular adenomas/carcinomas, FVPTC, and noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP) pose some diagnostic challenges for FNAC. In this study, we aimed to explore whether FNAC can demonstrate diagnostic clues by re-evaluating cytology slides from histopathologically diagnosed FVPTC cases. A total of 42 patients were enrolled in this study: patients were diagnosed with FVPTC via surgical resection between 2006 and 2016, and all patients were subjected to preoperative FNAC, which was conducted at either a private center or at the teaching hospital of Kocaeli University and reported by the same cytopathologist (NP). Clinical and cytomorphological characteristics were reviewed by both authors.Most cases (76.2%) are diagnosed either Bethesda IV or V. The majority of cases had a high cellularity (38/42; 90.5%), and the most frequent observations were monolayer and large syncytial groups of cells (95.2%). While microfollicular structures were observed in 30 (71.4%) cases, nuclear crowding and large naked nuclei were observed in all cases. Nuclear grooves were sparsely detected in 23 (54.8%) cases, and nuclear pseudoinclusions were detected in only six (14.3%) cases. Because thyrocytes often have a mixed architecture in FVPTC, despite a distinct follicular morphology, we believe that nuclear overcrowding, enlargement, and hyperchromasia in cases presenting with increased cellularity are notable clues for the cytodiagnosis of FVPTC. We believe that the primary aim of FNAC in such cases is to give preoperative diagnosis as either category IV or V. Nuclear crowding, monolayered clusters with large syncytial formations, nuclear enlargement, and hyperchromasia are notable cytomorphologic clues for the diagnosis of FVPTC on FNAC.