Morphometric analysis of thyroid cell aspirates.

One hundred and nineteen patients with thyroid nodules underwent fine needle aspiration cytology. Fifty eight were subsequently shown to have multinodular goitre: 36 had a follicular adenoma; 12 follicular carcinoma; and 13 papillary carcinoma on paraffin section. Morphometry performed on the aspirated cells stained by Papanicolaou and Giemsa methods showed significant differences in mean nuclear area and nuclear perimeter between groups of patients with benign thyroid nodules and those with malignant nodules. The wide variation in the mean nuclear areas and perimeters, however, severely limits the diagnostic use of morphometry in individual aspirates.