Hürthle cells in thyroid fine needle aspiration cytology: frequency and significance

C Vilasboas, J Figueiredo, I Ferreira, D Almeida, V Sousa, P Neto, P Agapito ESTeSC Coimbra Health School, Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, Portugal Centro de Diagnóstico Anatomopatológico, Coimbra, Portugal Serviço de Anatomia Patológica, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Portugal Introduction: The term, Hürthle cell, is used to describe follicular-derived epithelial cells with oncocytic cytology. We can find them in the whole body, however there are more auspicious rgans, such as the thyroid gland, kidneys, salivary glands and in the parathyroid glands. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the Hürthle cells frequency in samples of thyroid aspiration cytology, in order to analyse the importance of them in the development of the disease and to clarify if there is any association of gender and age relative to the target population. Methods: The samples used in this study were provided by the Centro de Diagnóstico Anatomopatológico (CEDAP). They are samples of Thyroid Fine Needle Aspiration and were performed through conventional cytology and liquid-based cytology. This study was based on 1572 samples which samples with Hürthle cells were characterized for age and gender. They were divided according to the cytological diagnosis of The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC). Results: The mean age of patients target of this study was 55 ( 14) years. 65 samples belonged to the feminine gender and 7 belonged to the masculine gender. According to the TBSRTC, 9 cytologies should be repeated and 25 patients will be referred for surgery. There is a statistically significant association between samples with Hürthle Cells and categories II–Benign, III–Atypia of Undetermined Significance or Follicular Lesion of Undetermined Significance and IV–Follicular Neoplasm or Suspicious for a Follicular Neoplasm. Conclusions: The incidence of thyroid neoplasm is increasing and becoming more aggressive. According to the obtained results, we have confirmed the same variables of the previous studies (age and gender) and conclude that Hürthle cells appear to have a statistically significant association with some diagnosis, pre-