Tall cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland.

Tall cell carcinoma of the thyroid gland is an aggressive variant of papillary carcinoma with a respectable 20% to 25% lethality. Its histologic features are characterized by a basal orientation of nuclei, abundant eosinophilic or oxyphilic cytoplasm, and a cellular height-width ratio greater than 2:1. These distinguish it from another aggressive variant, columnar cell carcinoma, which has a stratification of its nuclei and scant cellular cytoplasm.