A morphometric analysis of cytological features of tall cell variant and classical papillary carcinoma of the thyroid

In order to assess whether morphometric parameters could be of value in distinguishing between tall cell variant and classical pattern of thyroid papillary carcinoma, the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) samples of 14 cases were analysed using Arcimage 5 software on an Acorn computer. Histological examination of the specimens allowe classification of nine of them as classical pattern and the remaining five as tall cell variants. The nuclear diameter (NDD) and standard deviation distribution (NDSDD), th nuclear area (NAD) and standard deviation distribution (NASDD), and the nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio (NCR) were assessed on May-Grunwald-Giemsa stained smears. Statistical analysis was performed by use of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the two groups as identified by histology. Whilst NDD (P = 0.007), NAD (P = 0.015) and NADSD (P = 0.026) all appeared statistically significant, NDSD (P = 0.06) and NCR (P = 0.71) were not. The cytological diagnosis of papillary carcinoma is established and reproducible, but morphometric data on the thyroid have so far focused on the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant nodules. The choice of simple morphometric parameters appears to be helpful in the preoperative distinction between the classical pattern and tall cell variant of papillary carcinoma.