Abstract
The diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma (DSV-PTC) is one of the subtypes of thyroid papillary carcinoma. DSV-PTC is frequently seen in infant or young adult females, and is characterized by bilateral or hemi-lateral diffuse enlargement of the thyroid and frequent cervical node metastasis. The prognosis of DSV-RTC is poorer than that of usual papillary thyroid carcinoma. The histological findings of DSV-PTC are well known, and the tumor is characterized by diffuse lymphatic involvement of the tumor cells, frequently with squamous metaplasia, abundant psammoma bodies, marked lymphocytic infiltration and stromal fibrosis. However, there are few reports of the detailed cytological findings of DSV-PTC. In fine needle aspiration cytology of DAV-PTC, characteristic tumor cells with typical nuclear features, similar to those in usual papillary carcinoma, are seen with abundant lymphocytes, psammoma bodies and squamous metaplasia. Other findings such as solid ball-like clusters, hollow ball-like clusters, and septate cytoplasmic vacuoles or large vacuoles are also characteristic of DAV-PTC. In this article, the cytological findings of DSV-PTC are reviewed with a review of the literature, and the characteristic findings are summarized.
