Sir, Primitive spindle-cell tumor or tumor-like lesions of the thyroid are an uncommon finding. As far as thyroid tumors are concerned, apart from the well-known possibility that hyalinizing trabecular adenoma and anaplastic carcinomas may contain epithelial spindle cells, more rarely other tumors, such as follicular adenoma and papillary carcinoma, exhibit a metaplastic spindle-cell epithelial component [4]. In some primitive thyroid lesions, the spindle-cell component may be mesenchymal rather than epithelial in nature; this is the case of the solitary fibrous tumor and reactive lesions, such as the nodular fasciitis-like stroma of the papillary carcinoma and postfine-needle aspiration spindle-cell nodules [1]. Spindle-cell epithelial metaplasia with nuclear pleomorphism may be occasionally seen in follicular adenoma (atypical adenoma) and focally even in nodular goiter. We report an unusual case of nodular goiter with an area of atypical spindle-cell epithelial metaplasia. A 54-year-old man underwent total thyroidectomy for bilateral nodular goiter. An unexpected finding was the presence of a 1.5cm-sized, unencapsulated nodular area abruptly merging from an otherwise typical nodular goiter (Fig. 1A), composed mainly of spindle cells with bizarre hyperchromatic nuclei, similar to those observed in the socalled “atypical adenoma” (Fig. 1A, B, C). The cells, frequently arranged in whorls vaguely reminiscent of a nerve-sheath tumor (Fig. 1B), were set in a variably cellular fibrous to edematous stroma. Variable-sized thyroid follicles, some of which showed atypical nuclear pleomorphism, were frequently intermixed with the spindlecell component, and transition morphological features from follicles to spindle cells were focally observed (Fig. 1B). Mitoses and necrosis were not observed. Immunohistochemical analysis showed a diffuse expression of thyroglobulin and vimentin in association with focal cytokeratin immunoreactivity in atypical spindle cells (Fig. 1D, E, F), while no reaction to calcitonin, S-100 protein, CD34, desmin and a-smooth-muscle actin was obtained. The immunohistochemical and morphological features supported the follicular-derived metaplastic epithelial nature of the atypical/bizarre spindle cells, similar to what is observed in spindle-cell component arising in association with papillary carcinoma and follicular adenoma of thyroid [4]. The spindle-cell metaplastic transformation of follicular epithelium is not at all surprising if we consider that both normal and neoplastic thyroid follicular cells in vitro may undergo an epithelial–mesenchymal transition with a fibroblastic-like appearance characterized by an acquisition of vimentin expression accompanied by a concurrent variable loss of cytokeratin [2, 3]. The present case contributes to widen the spectrum of the spindle-cell lesions, which can be encountered in diagnostic practice of thyroid pathology. Although atypical follicular cells may be expected in different thyroid diseases (follicular adenoma, nodular goiter, Basedow’s disease) without adverse prognostic significance, their uncommon spindle-cell metaplastic transformation may alert pathologists, who should be aware of this possibility to avoid a diagnosis of malignancy.