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Category III: Atypical

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The Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology

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Abstract

The categories “Atypical” and “Suspicious for Malignancy” are indeterminate categories containing a spectrum of cellular changes ranging from minor degrees of nuclear enlargement, hyperchromasia, and anisonucleosis (atypical) to cellular specimens with features falling just short of those necessary for the diagnosis of a high grade malignancy (suspicious). The “Atypical” category is used for atypia in endoscopic ultrasound fine needle aspiration specimens of solid lesions, nonspecific cyst fluids, and duct brushing specimens. Specimens with cytologic features falling short of those diagnostic of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor and solid and papillary neoplasm (SPN) are placed in the “Atypical” category. Brushing specimens of strictures containing features of low-grade dysplasia (BilIN I to II) are placed in the “Atypical” category while high-grade dysplasia, e. g. biliary intraepithelial neoplasia III, is placed in the “Suspicious for Malignancy” category.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

    Martha Bishop Pitman MD

  2. Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri Medical Center, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    Lester James Layfield MD

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  1. Martha Bishop Pitman MD
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  2. Lester James Layfield MD
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Correspondence to Martha Bishop Pitman MD .

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Pitman, M., Layfield, L. (2015). Category III: Atypical. In: The Papanicolaou Society of Cytopathology System for Reporting Pancreaticobiliary Cytology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16589-9_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16589-9_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16588-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16589-9

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