Cytomorphology of columnar cell variant of papillary carcinoma thyroid: A case report and review of the literature

A 58 years old lady reported with history of progressively increasing lump in the neck. Patient had earlier undergone sub-total thyroidectomy (details not available) in a private institute one year back. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of the present lump revealed features of papillary carcinoma thyroid. Patient subsequently underwent total thyroidectomy along with excision of a tumor nodule in the larynx. Gross examination of the specimen revealed a tumor nodule in the right lobe of the thyroid. Microscopic examination of the tumor nodule in the thyroid and larynx revealed a columnar cell variant of papillary carcinoma thyroid. Very few reports describing the cytomorphologic features of this variant of papillary carcinoma are available in the published literature. These reports highlight the absence or paucity of nuclear grooves and intranuclear inclusions in this variant. We describe a case of columnar cell variant of papillary carcinoma where nuclear grooves were prominently seen. In addition, we report the occurrence of rosette-like structures which were brought out better on FNA smears. These rosette-like structures have not been emphasized earlier in the published literature. The cytomorphologic features of this rare variant are also reviewed in this report.