Brief history (BH): a 43-year-old female presented with a palpable mass in the right neck. US revealed a 20 mm × 15 mm hypoechogenic lymph node (LN) in the right cervical jugular region. During US-FNA, 3 cc of hemorrhagic cystic fluid was obtained. It was believed that the cystic LN could be associated with papillary thyroid carcinoma. US was performed on the thyroid, which had not previously undergone US. The radiologist detected an 8 mm × 6 mm microcalcified nodule in the right lobe. FNA was also performed on this nodule.\nCytologic findings: (i) LN: smears from cystic fluid showed clusters of atypical thyroid follicular cells on a cystic background with hemosiderin-laden macrophages. (ii) Thyroid nodule: the hypercellular samples revealed atypical papillary clusters with occasional intranuclear vacuoles and grooves []. Cytologic diagnosis: LN: Metastasis of cystic papillary thyroid carcinoma. Right thyroid nodule: Thyroid papillary carcinoma. The cytologic diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically.\nTHMs: After the fluid was obtained from the LN during the FNA, “metastasis of thyroid papillary carcinoma,” which comes to mind first in the differential diagnosis of lesions that form cystic degenerations at the LN, was considered.[] Other lesions included in the differential diagnosis were hemangioma, metastasis from malignity in the salivary gland, squamous cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma.[]
BH: In a 35-year-old female, a hypoechoic lesion 35 mm × 15 mm in size with a cystic appearance was detected during the US due to the presence of a palpable mass in the left neck. During the US, it was noted that the cyst had no septa inside, its wall was thin, and the lesion of the cyst was almost completely full. Cytologic findings: squamous epithelial cells were observed between sporadic inflamed cells on a dirty cystic background. It was noted that some squamous cells had dyskaryotic structures with pyknotic nuclei while reactive atypia was observed in a few cells []. Cytologic diagnosis: Branchial cyst.\nTHM: the cytopathologist noted that the lesion was cystic, and 10 cc of clear yellow fluid was obtained from the aspiration, during which the lesion shrank, which suggested that it could be a thin-wall cystic lesion. Cytodifferential diagnosis: Salivary gland lesion (e.g., Warthin tumor), cystic hygroma, cystic thyroid lesions, purulent inflammation (apsis) and metastasis of cystic squamous cell carcinoma (larynx, head/neck associated). In addition, squamous cell carcinoma cases associated with branchial cysts were defined in the literature.[]