Scientific article
Case report
English

Macrofollicular variant of follicular thyroid carcinoma: a clinical, cytologic, morphologic, and image analysis study of a unique case

Published inAnnals of diagnostic pathology, vol. 13, no. 2, p. 101-105
Publication date2009
Abstract

Thyroid lesions composed of large follicles that contain abundant colloid are usually regarded as benign hyperplastic or adenomatous nodules both by fine-needle aspiration cytology and histology. In such cases, the pathologist is less likely to request a complete inclusion of the capsule into paraffin block and to look for vascular and/or capsular invasion, the only criteria that permit the differential diagnosis between a benign nodule and a follicular carcinoma. We report the first case of a follicular thyroid carcinoma composed predominantly (>90%) of macrofollicles with a surface area that was up to 5 times larger than the surface area of normal follicles, as calculated with an image analysis system. Capsular invasion was detected in 2 separate foci. The tumor was classified as a minimally invasive follicular carcinoma, macrofollicular variant. This case is detailed to highlight the potential pitfall that may arise from an incomplete histological analysis of a macrofollicular lesion, with particular attention paid to the differential diagnoses.

Keywords
  • Adenocarcinoma, Follicular/*pathology
  • Adenoma/pathology
  • Adult
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia/pathology
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Thyroid Neoplasms/*pathology
Citation (ISO format)
BONGIOVANNI, Massimo et al. Macrofollicular variant of follicular thyroid carcinoma: a clinical, cytologic, morphologic, and image analysis study of a unique case. In: Annals of diagnostic pathology, 2009, vol. 13, n° 2, p. 101–105. doi: 10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2008.12.009

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