Course Map: Epithelial Tumors: Malignant: Urothelial Carcinoma: Atypia (Dysplasia)

Atypia (Dysplasia)
These are regarded as synonymous terms [8]. Unless "atypia" is otherwise qualified (e.g. reactive atypia) it is intended to imply that the epithelium is believed to be neoplastic but the cellular changes are not sufficient to warrant a diagnosis of carcinoma in-situ. A diagnosis of atypia or dysplasia usually will be made in cases where carcinoma is present in another part of the bladder or the patient has a history of having had carcinoma. In this setting, the diagnosis implies an increased likelihood of recurrent tumor [26].
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Figure 1: Epithelial atypia (or dysplasia). Near the middle of the field (arrows), the epithelium shows an abrupt change. In comparison to the left side, the nuclei are larger, darker, and unequally spaced apart. It is not obvious that this should be diagnosed as CIS, hence the diagonosis of atypia or dysplasia.