Simultaneous cytomegalovirus infection and Kaposi's sarcoma of the thyroid diagnosed by fine needle aspiration in an AIDS patient. A case report and first cytologic description of the two entities occurring together.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection and Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) are common in AIDS patients but rarely involve the thyroid, and coexistence of these two entities in that organ has not yet been described before.
Case: A 41-year-old female AIDS patient presented with a 2 x 1-cm, well-demarcated, rubbery mass in the right side of the thyroid. On fine needle aspiration (FNA), spindle cells were retrieved singly or in small, loose clusters; they had bland, fusiform to cigar-shaped nuclei; inconspicuous nucleoli; delicate cytoplasmic vacuoles; cytoplasmic hyaline drops; and hemosiderin granules. A single endothelial cell showed an enlarged nucleus with a basophilic intranuclear inclusion and periinclusional halo.
Conclusion: This is the first reported case of an AIDS patient with KS and CMV infection simultaneously involving the thyroid diagnosed by FNA.