Cytological and molecular diagnosis of solid variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma: a case report

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) composed by predominant solid areas is diagnosed as a distinct variant on histological samples. Here we present a case of PTC recognized preoperatively by fine needle cytology as a solid variant. This diagnosis was made by combining cytology with the detection of the BRAFVK600-1E mutation, the molecular hallmark of the solid variant of PTC. Histological and molecular evaluation of the surgical specimen confirmed this pre-operative diagnosis. Thus combining cytology to BRAF molecular analysis is useful to refine the cytological diagnosis of this variant also on FNC specimens.