To the Editor.—In the article by Suster et al1 titled “Solid Thyroid Follicular Nodules with Longitudinal Grooves,” the pictures illustrate additional features of papillary thyroid carcinoma—fine nuclear chromatin, nuclear folding, prominent micronucleoli, and oval shapes.
On fine-needle aspiration cytology, this would be classified, at least, as Bethesda category V, suspicious for papillary carcinoma. The treatment for most patients in this category would be total thyroidectomy.
Do the authors recommend this entity be included along with noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features in the Bethesda commentary as a cause for false-positive diagnoses of papillary carcinoma?
Would the authors recommend treating these patients differently from those with a diagnosis of micropapillary carcinoma? Pragmatically, does the diagnosis of “follicular nodule with longitudinal follicular grooves” make a difference in patient care?
Competing Interests
The authors have no relevant financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.
