RESUMO
We report a case of a 45-year-old female who developed multi-focal encapsulated papillary carcinoma (EPC) in her left breast. This was on a background of previous left breast high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ, for which she had a skin-sparing mastectomy and deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) reconstruction five years ago. Papillary carcinoma is a rare pathology, and its occurrence in autologous breast reconstruction is even rarer. This is the second reported case of papillary carcinoma in a DIEP reconstruction. Although surgery remains the gold standard for EPC, debate remains with regard to adjuvant endocrine therapy and radiotherapy. We discuss the diagnosis and current management of an EPC.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is integral to the diagnosis and management of patients with thyroid nodules. We introduced synoptic cytology reporting for thyroid nodules in 2004. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of synoptic cytology reporting in our institution. METHODS: A comparative study of two 2-year periods (1 August 2002 to 1 August 2004 and 2 August 2004 to 2 August 2006) before and after the introduction of synoptic reporting was conducted from a prospectively collected database of patients presented with thyroid nodules. The only change during these periods was the format of FNAC reporting. We used the same radiological practice and cytopathology service throughout the study period. All patients are still being followed up. RESULTS: There were a total of 660 patients. Of these, 376 were operated and 284 non-operated. The female to male ratio was 7:1. Comparing the two periods, the overall FNAC sensitivities were 60% versus 79.1%; specificities, 83.7% versus 79.4%; accuracy, 76% versus 79.3%; false-positive result, 16.3% versus 20.6% and false-negative result, 40% versus 20.9%. The non-diagnostic rates were 7.4% versus 3.15%. FNAC prompted surgery in 66.7% versus 100% in carcinoma and 56.4% versus 73.6% in adenoma. A benign FNAC prompted surgery in 15% versus 19.8% of cases. There was no thyroid cancer detected in the current follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Synoptic cytology reporting has resulted in an overall improvement in all measures of the tests. It is a simple and effective tool to use. Synoptic cytology reporting is therefore recommended for all endocrine surgical units.