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Image Description

Colloid is most commonly seen covering large areas of the slide as "watery" (translucent) and thin material. It can be seen as a translucent film with bubbles, folds, cracks and as circular "chicken wire" artifact (previous image).

Colloid can also be seen as thick and opaque with sharp outlines (as shown here). In some cases colloid can be extremely thick and sticky ("bubble gum" colloid). Smears that have a high ratio of colloid to follicular cells are generally benign thyroid nodules.

Image courtesy of: Ami Patel, MD.

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