Angioarchitecture of thyroid carcinoma

Since thyroid carcinoma is a tumor originating in an organ with a rich vascular supply, its biological characteristics seem to depend upon tumor vessels. From this point of view, we performed thyroid angiography clinically and examined the structure of the vessel wall histologically. The thyroid angiography demonstrated abnormal neoplastic vascularization, tumor stains and the presence of an arterio-venous fistula within the tumor. According to the pharmaco-thyroid angiography, the vessels in the cancerous tissue, unlike normal vessels, lacked a humoral response. Histochemical fluorescence study revealed no specific fluorescence indicative of the presence of catecholamines in tumor vessels, suggesting that the vessel is embryonic in character. The angioarchitectonic picture of the tumor vessels was polymorphous consisting chiefly of a tree-shaped ramification type and a peculiar saccular or fusiform dilatation type. The punctate or linear type seen in the normal tissue was only a minor component.