A subcutaneous phaeohyphomycotic cyst caused by Pyrenochaeta romeroi in a 47-year-old Indian female is described. The organism was isolated repeatedly from the aspirated material from the cyst. It was identified by colony and microscopic characteristics, and sequencing of internal transcribed spacer regions of the rDNA. Although the patient recovered without antifungal therapy, the isolate appeared resistant to commonly used antifungal agents. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second report of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycotic cyst caused by Pyrenochaeta romeroi.

Objective: Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (USG-FNAC) is used for the detection of axillary lymph node (ALN) metastasis in patients with breast carcinoma (BC). US findings have a good diagnostic accuracy with high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study is to correlate the detection of ALN metastases on US with FNAC in BC patients. Study Design: In 75 BC patients, over a period of 9 months (January to September 2017), the size, cortical thickness (CT), presence or absence of hilar fat, and length/width ratio of ALN on US were reviewed and correlated with FNAC findings. Results: The age range was 29–78 (mean 52) years. There were 38 patients with a single ALN and 37 with multiple ALNs. ALNs with a maximum length of > 2.5 cm were malignant in 100% of cases while those ≥1.5 cm were malignant in 80.4%. ALNs with a CT of > 3 mm had metastasis in 78.1% cases. ALNs with absent hilar fat showed tumour in 87.5% cases. A length/width ratio of < 2 showed a metastatic tumour in 66.7% of aspirates. Conclusion: An association was seen between metastatic carcinoma on FNAC and axillary US features of a maximum length of ≥1.5 cm, the absence of hilar fat, and a CT of > 3 mm (p < 0.05).

We report the fine-needle aspiration cytology of a case of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) metastatic to the breast in a 66-year old female within two years of diagnosis of the thyroid tumor. The aspirate of the breast metastases revealed a plasmacytoid population of cells in loose clusters and singly with mild to moderate pleomorphism. Nuclear groves and occasional intranuclear cytoplasmic inclusions were seen. The cells stained positive for calcitonin and negative for thyroglobulin. Use of immunocytochemical methods proved useful to diagnose metastasis which was essential in planning treatment. Cases of metastatic MTC to the breast diagnosed on fine-needle aspirates reported in the literature are reviewed.