Fine needle aspiration cytology

OBJECTIVE: To describe the most important concepts in ultrasound physics that interventional cytopathologists need to understand in order to successfully perform ultrasound-guided needle biopsies. METHODS: Review of the literature. RESULTS: A deep understanding of ultrasound physics and the mathematics supporting it are not necessary. The most important concepts are frequency, attenuation, overall gain, time-gain compensation, focus, spatial resolution, temporal resolution and Doppler...

AIM AND OBJECTIVES: The study aims to categorize malignant small round cell tumors (MSRCTs) originating in various sites of the body with the objective of utilization of cytomorphological features and ancillary techniques. STUDY DESIGN: It is a cross-sectional study conducted over a time span of 3 years (2017-2020). 33 cases of tumors with round cell morphology were evaluated by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The application of cell block preparation supported by immunohistochemistry aided in the categorization of 23 cases with definite diagnosis and the rest were reported as MSRCTs...

Warthin tumor (WT) is a benign tumor usually affecting the parotid gland. The main diagnostic tool remains ultrasound combined with fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). This study aims to examine how reliably FNAC indicates WT for clinical decision making regarding surgical versus conservative management. We included all patients who underwent FNAC from a parotid gland lesion between 2016 and 2018 at our institution, and whose FNAC revealed WT suspicion. The FNACs were divided into three groups based on the cytology report: certain, likely, and possible WT...

Adenoid cystic carcinomas (ADCC) are distinctive salivary gland neoplasms with characteristic histomorphology. The diagnosis of dedifferentiation/high-grade transformation (HGT) indicates poor prognosis and is most often made on histopathology. We present a case of ADCC arising from a minor salivary gland tumor exhibiting HGT, reaching up to the submandibular gland and having lymph node metastases, suspected on fine-needle aspiration cytology. The index case highlights the awareness of the entity of the HGT of salivary gland tumors and raises suspicion for cytological diagnosis...

Extragonadal germ cell tumors (GCTs) are challenging to diagnose. We present a case of suprarenal GCT, with hepatic infiltration where differential diagnosis included neuroblastoma and hepatoblastoma. The positive positron emission tomography scan further obfuscated the situation. The diagnosis was clinched by fine-needle aspiration cytology and cell block immunohistochemistry.

BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of parotid swelling is challenging and investigations like imaging and needle aspiration cytology are helpful. The objective of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) as compared to the histopathology in parotid gland swelling. METHODS: It was a descriptive cross sectional study carried out in the Department of ENT-Head and Neck Surgery, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu by reviewing the medical record charts of the patients who had undergone surgery for parotid lesions during the study period of seven and half years...

OBJECTIVE: The McGill Thyroid Nodule Score (MTNS) is a preoperative tool used to predict the risk for well-differentiated thyroid cancer in adults. It was developed by a multidisciplinary team using established evidence-based risk factors for thyroid cancer. The modified McGill Thyroid Nodule Score (mMTNS) was developed to predict malignancy risk in children. A pilot study suggested the mMTNS was able to assess malignancy risk in children with indeterminate cytology on fine needle aspiration (FNA)...

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is very rare among all invasive breast carcinomas, accounting for less than 1.0% of them. MBCs are classified into five subtypes, including mixed MBC - where the mix might be multiple metaplastic elements or a mixture of epithelial and mesenchymal elements. Overall survival for mixed MBC tends to correlate with a significantly worse outcome. Therefore, an early accurate diagnosis and surgical treatment for mixed MBCs must allow for an improved quality of life and better prognosis...

BACKGROUND: Penile cancer is a rare male genital malignancy. Surgical excision of the primary tumour is followed by radical inguinal lymphadenectomy if there is metastatic disease detected by biopsy, fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) or following sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with impalpable disease. However, radical inguinal lymphadenectomy is associated with a high morbidity rate, and there is increasing usage of a videoendoscopic approach as an alternative. METHODS: A pragmatic, UK-wide multicentre feasibility randomised controlled trial (RCT), comparing videoendoscopic radical inguinal lymphadenectomy versus open radical inguinal lymphadenectomy...

An 83-year-old Japanese man who underwent cholecystectomy for cholecystolithiasis 17 years ago visited our hospital owing to epigastric pain. He was initially diagnosed with choledocholithiasis and acute cholangitis following white blood cell, C-reactive protein, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase level elevations along with common bile duct stones on computed tomography (CT). Moreover, CT, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (ERC), and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) also revealed a 2-cm-diameter mass arising from the remnant cystic duct...

Introduction Rhabdomyosarcoma, though rare in the middle ear, necessitates prompt recognition for optimal management. They are malignant mesenchymal neoplasms arising from the embryonic mesenchymal cells of striated skeletal muscles. Case presentation We present a case of a 5-year-old child with massive right mastoid swelling and bloody ear discharge. Cytological examination via fine needle aspiration biopsy revealed features suggestive of a malignant mesenchymal tumor, confirmed on imaging and subsequent histopathology as embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma (ERMS) FNCLCC grade 2...

INTRODUCTION: Approximately 15% of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of thyroid nodules are considered nondiagnostic. Several factors are potentially involved, including clinical and nodule features but also the gauge (G) of the needle used. However, few studies have compared the cytological adequacy obtained with different gauge needles and the data are controversial. We aimed to evaluate cytological adequacy results using 23- or 25-G needles. METHODS: This study is an observational and prospective study of thyroid nodules submitted to ultrasound-guided FNA...

BACKGROUND: CA19-9 is a tumor marker for gastrointestinal and biliary-pancreatic adenocarcinomas; however, its association with thyroid cancer is unknown. Here, we report a case of CA19-9 producing locally advanced papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). CASE PRESENTATION: A 66-year-old woman who was identified with a thyroid tumor after a close examination of an elevated serum CA19-9 level, which was detected at health screening, was referred to our hospital. Ultrasonography revealed a 34 × 31 mm hypoechoic lesion in the lower pole of the left thyroid lobe...

Isolated intraparotid neurofibromas are exceptionally rare and often associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Diagnosing these tumors proves challenging because of the clinical resemblance to primary salivary gland masses. This case report details an 18-year-old with a painful, enlarging parotid mass, diagnosed through fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) revealing myxoid stroma and spindle cells. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed a plexiform neurofibroma involving the parotid gland and facial nerve...

BACKGROUND: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is the most useful tool in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Liquid-based cytology (LBC) is replacing the conventional smear (CS) for evaluation of thyroid FNAC. In our institution, thyroid FNAC preparation was changed from CS to LBC SurePath in July 2016. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of SurePath with that of CS in thyroid lesions. METHODS: A total of 35,406 samples of thyroid FNAC (11,438 CS and 23,968 SurePath), collected from January 2010 to December 2022, were included in this study...

This report describes the cytologic features of a recently described MXD4::NUTM1-rearranged colonic sarcoma metastatic to the midclavicular soft tissue. Thirteen years ago, a 65-year-old woman presented with a cecal mass and subsequent liver mass. The cecal mass was diagnosed as malignant undifferentiated spindled and epithelioid neoplasm based on morphology and lack of tumor immunoreactivity with a panel of epithelial, smooth muscle, skeletal, melanoma, hematologic, and GIST markers. The liver mass showed morphologic and immunophenotypic similarity to the epithelioid component of the patient's cecal mass, albeit devoid of the spindled component...

BACKGROUND: The atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) category is heterogeneous, leading to variations in its use. To prevent excessive usage, the AUS rate should be ≤10%. Although this recommendation aims to maintain diagnostic quality, it lacks supporting data. The AUS:Malignant (AUS:M) ratio has been proposed as a metric tool to evaluate AUS use. Furthermore, integrating ThyroSeq v3 (TSV3) positive call rate (PCR) and the molecular-derived risk of malignancy (MDROM) have been put forward as performance improvement tools...

BACKGROUND: Lymphadenopathy is a common finding in clinical practice. The cause of enlarged nodes on clinical examination alone is challenging and there may be multiple reasons for this enlargement. It may become enlarged due to stimulation by infectious agents or the involvement of metastasis or malignant diseases, such as lymphoma. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to investigate the diagnostic role of fine needle aspiration cytology of lymph nodes in metastatic cancer and lymphoma...

Background Only about 5% of palpable thyroid nodules are malignant; the rest are entirely benign. In order to reduce the number of unnecessary treatments and properly identify situations that need surgical intervention, it is essential to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions prior to surgery. There exists a "grey zone" in thyroid cytology characterized by a significant decrease in diagnostic accuracy, making it difficult to precisely classify the lesion and leading to discrepancies. Aims and objectives The study aims to accomplish the following objectives: (1) assess the prevalence of thyroid lesions according to age and sex; (2) evaluate the accuracy of the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) in diagnosing thyroid conditions; and (3) investigate the causes of cytohistological discordance within the context of this study...

BACKGROUND: The management of choice for granulomatous mastitis (GM) has yet to be determined but few studies have demonstrated that anti-tubercular treatment (ATT) could be an effective alternative therapeutic option. Hence, the objective of the current study is to determine the clinical feature, radiological imaging findings, and histopathological examination results exhibited by GM and tuberculosis (TB)-proven GM as well as to evaluate the ATT clinical outcome in GM patients. METHODS: The study was performed on 68 GM patients who were referred to the department of pulmonology by the breast clinic (from January 2018 to August 2021)...