Computerized Morphometric Study of Thyroid Follicular Carcinoma in Correlation with Known Prognostic Factors

Abstract

This study investigates the correlation between computer-assisted nuclear morphometry and known prognostic factors in thyroid follicular carcinoma. Thirty-six patients with thyroid follicular carcinoma who underwent surgery between 1991 and 2001 were grouped according to sex, age, size of the primary lesion, the presence of vascular invasion, and metastases. Four nuclear parameters were measured and analyzed: mean nuclear area, mean nuclear perimeter, largest to smallest diameter ratio of the nuclei, and coefficient of variation of the nuclear area. Our results indicated that none of the chosen nuclear variables were significantly correlated with the prognostic factors studied. In conclusion, nuclear morphometry does not seem to correlate with known prognostic factors and cannot serve as an additional predicting factor for biologic behavior.

Keywords

• morphometry
• follicular carcinoma
• prognostic factor