Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Sacrococcygeal Chondroid Chordoma - A Case Report -

천골미골부에 발생한 연골양 척삭종의 세침흡인 세포학적 소견 - 1예 보고 -

Chordoma is an uncommon neoplasm that accounts for approximately 1% to 4% of all primary bone neoplasms and thought to originate from remnants of the fetal notochordal elements. It usually occurs in adults and has a predilection for the sacrococcygeal and spheno-occipital areas. Chondroid chordoma, first described by Heffelfinger et al, is a rare variant of chordoma; it contains both chordomatous and chondromatous features, and has a considerably better prognosis than either chordoma or chondrosarcoma. The cytologic findings of fine needle aspiration of sacrococcygeal chondroid chordoma in a 57-year-old man are presented. Aspiration cytology showed many sheets and cords of neoplastic cells in a thick amorphous blue-purple mucinous background. The cells had small too medium sized round nuclei with coarse granular chromatin and abundant eosinophilic or bubbly cytoplasm. Some cells had pleomorphic and hyperchomatic nuclei with prominent nucleoli. Cytologic findings were compared to histologic findings. Histologically, areas of chondroid differentiation were noted which were absent in the cytologic smear. Immunohistochemically, both the chondroid and chordoid areas had an epithelial phenotype and stained for cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen and S-100 protein. This is the first case of cytologic findings of chondroid chordoma to our knowledge in literature.