The Prognostic Relevance of Psammoma Bodies and Ultrasonographic Intratumoral Calcifications in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Background Although psammoma bodies (PB) are found in up to 50 % of papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC), their clinicopathological significance remains uncertain. The aim of the present study was to determine the clinicopathological significance of PB and the correlation between PB and ultrasonographic intratumoral calcification in PTC. Methods The clinicopathological parameters, ultrasonographic calcifications, and the presence of PB were evaluated in 258 surgically resected conventional PTC. Results Psammoma bodies were found in 141 of 258 PTC (54.7 %). The presence of PB was significantly correlated with tumor multifocality, extrathyroidal extension, and lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.009, P = 0.004, and P 1 cm) than in papillary microcarcinomas (≤1 cm) ( P