Imprint Cytology from a Childhood Case of Metastatic
Papillary Thyroid Carcinomat
NIPA KANJANAVIROJKUL, M.Sc.,C.M.I.A.C.*, ANUCHA PUAPAIROJ, M.D., F.R.C.Path (Thailand)*,
NUALSRI PATARAPADUNGKIT, M.Sc. *
Affiliation : * Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen 40002, Thailand.
t Presented at the 5th Congress Asia Pacific Association of Societies of Pathologists and the 9th National Congress of
Pathology, Bangkok, Thailand, December 2-5, 1997.
AbstractA 9-year-old girl with a history of a palpable multinodular hard mass in the right lobe of
the thyroid gland was biopsied. On diagnosis of a papillary carcinoma, total thyroidectomy and
right radical neck dissection were performed. Examination of frozen sections demonstrated
metas~is in the right but not the left cervical lymph nodes. Imprint cytology revealed small
papillary sheets of neoplastic cells with a high proportion of cytoplasmic inclusions and a few
nuclear grooves. These nuclear details allowed a specific diagnosis of metastatic papillary thyroid
carcinoma. Papillary thyroid carcinoma can be easily diagnosed by imprint cytology. In places
such as small and country hospitals that do not have pathology laboratories, it can also be used
successfully as an alternative to frozen section histology. The efficiency, simplicity and rapidity
of this method make it a very useful procedure.
Keywords : Imprint Cytology, Papillary Carcinoma, Metastatic, Thyroid, Childhood, Lymph Node
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