Ali Syed Z., Cibas Edmund S. The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology. Definitions, Criteria, and Explanatory Notes

Second Edition. — Springer, 2018. — 250 p. — ISBN: 978-3-319-60569-2The second edition of this atlas was inspired by new developments in the field of thyroid cytopathology since the publication of the first edition 8 years ago. These include revised guidelines for the management of patients with thyroid nodules [1], the introduction of molecular testing as an adjunct to cytopathologic examination, and the reclassification of the noninvasive follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma as noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasm with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTP)[2]. Much of the groundwork for this atlas was laid by a symposium entitled “The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRTC): Past, Present, and Future” at the 2016 International Congress of Cytology in Yokohama, Japan. Preparations for the symposium began 12 months earlier with the designation of a steering group and the appointment of an international panel composed of 16 cytopathologists and an endocrinologist, whose task was to review and summarize the published literature in English since the introduction of TBSRTC. The symposium, moderated by Drs. Syed Ali and Philippe Vielh, took place on May 30, 2016, and the discussions and recommendations from the symposium have been summarized in a publication by Pusztaszeri et al. [3]. Based on the panel’s recommendation, the six original general categories (“Nondiagnostic,” “Benign,” “Atypia of Undetermined Significance/Follicular Lesion of Undetermined Significance,” “Follicular Neoplasm/Suspicious for a Follicular Neoplasm,” “Suspicious for Malignancy,” and “Malignant”) have been retained in this second edition. The chapters devoted to these categories now have expanded and refined definitions, morphologic criteria, and explanatory notes. It’s gratifying to see that TBSRTC has been widely adopted in the USA and worldwide and endorsed by the American Thyroid Association [1]. It has gone far toward improving communication between cytopathologists and their clinical colleagues and has provided a uniform template for the sharing of data among investigators.
It is our hope that it will continue to stimulate interest in the improvement of thyroid cytopathologic diagnosis and the betterment of patients with thyroid nodular disease.