Grooved Nuclei in Thyroid Papillary Carcinoma

Lee, Chang Hun; Suh, Kang Suek

Abstract

Recently nuclear grooving has been introduced to be a reliable diagnostic criterion for papillary thyroid carcinoma, in addition to known clear nuclei and intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions. Now this study is undertaken to assess the diagnostic value of this new clue. The results obtained are as follows : 1) 35 follicullar carcinomas, 106 follicular adenomas and 56 adenomatous goiters were studied as control groups. Grooved nuclei were positive in 22.9% of follicular carcinomas, 19.8% of follicular adenomas and 5.4% of adenomatous goiters, whereas intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions in 11.4%, 11.3% and 7.1% : and clear nuclei in 22.9%, 23.6% and 5.4%, respectively. 2) Among 105 papillary carcinomas the frequencies of grooved nuclei, intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions and clear nuclei were 93.3%, 84.8% and 79.0%, respectively. Incidence difference between grooved nuclei and clear nuclei was significantly recognized(p<0.05). 3) Among variants of papillary carcinoma including mixed, pure, occult sclerosing and follicular types, the frequencies of grooved nuclei were 96.7%(59/61), 86.2%(25/29), 100%(13/13) and 50.0%(1/2), respectively. In comparison the frequency of the mixed types was mildly more increased than that of the pure(p<0.05). 4) Among 44 aspiration biopsy cytology cases, which were identified histologically as papillary carcinoma, the frequencies of grooved nuclei and intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions were 65.9% and 70.5%, respectively. Therefore it is suggested that grooved nuclei be a valuable diagnostic feature of papillary thyroid carcinoma, along with other nuclear findings.