• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.155-159
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• 1998

Fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) has become a popular method for the diagnosis of a wide variety of both superficial and deep-seated lesions. However, there are few reports about the potential of FNAC for the diagnosis of intraoral lesions. We experienced 44 FNACS from intraoral lesions at Asan Medical Center: 22 from the palate, 6 from the tongue, 5 from the parapharyngeal space, 5 from the lip, 2 from the floor of mouth, 1 from the buccal mucosa, and 3 from other intraoral sites. Histological confirmation was obtained in 32 cases and we analyzed 27 cases excluding 5 cases of inadequate aspirates. Diagnosis was specifically made in 19 of 27 cases(70%) including 1 mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 1 undifferentiated carcinoma, 1 chordoma, 9 pleomorphic adenomas, 1 neurofibroma, and 6 benign lesions. There were three false negative cases(sensitivity, 62.5%) and no false positive cases(specificity, 100%): Two cases diagnosed as "cystic lesion" were confirmed to be mucoepidermoid carcinomas and a case diagnosed as pleomorphic adenoma was proved to be adenoid cystic carcinoma. The results of our study suggest that FNAC is a useful technique in the diagnosis of intraoral lesion.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.133-143
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• 1999

Fine needle aspiration cytology of the salivary lesions was performed on 221 patients at Soonchunhyang University Hospital for 10 years. Of 221 aspirates, 6 aspirates(2.7%) were inadequate, 116 cases(52.5%) were non-neoplastic lesions, 76(34.4%) cases were benign neoplasms and 23 cases(10.4%) were malignant neoplasms. The cytologic diagnoses could be correlated with histologic findings in 58 cases. FNAC correctly discriminated between neoplastic and nonneoplastic lesions in fifty-seven lesions and failed in a case, and overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 98.3%, 98.0%, and 100.0%. FNAC correctly discriminated malignant neoplasms from benign neoplastic/nonneoplastic lesions in fifty-three cases and fatted in five cases, and overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 91.3%, 72.7%, and 95.7%. Among three false negative cases, two mucoepidermoid carcinomas were misdiagnosed as mucocele and benign neoplasm, and an acinic cell carcinoma were misdiagnosed as Warthin's tumor. Two false positive cases were a Warthin's tumor misdiagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma and a pleomorphic adenoma misinterpretated as suggestive of malignancy. In conclusion diagnostic accuracy of FNAC of salivary lesions is high, and the possibilities of low grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma and acinic cell carcinoma should be considered on hypocellular smears with mucoid or fluidy background.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.106-109
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• 2005

We report a case of Warthin's tumor of the parotid gland in a 53 year old man, which is incorrectly diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma. Fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) smear obtained from the right parotid gland revealed scattered epithelial cell clusters or nests in a diffuse inflammatory and necrotic background. Some epithelial cells had squamoid appearance showing variable sized bizarre shaped nuclei. They had abundant of dense eosinophilic keratinized cytoplasm. Occasionally, parakeratotic cells were also present. These cytologic findings with significant atypia and necrotic background made diagnosis as squamous cell carcinoma. But, the resection specimen from this patient showed classic Warthin's tumor in addition to abundant areas of inflammation and squamous metaplasia. Metaplastic or infarcted Warthin's tumor in the salivary gland may be confused with false positive diagnosis of malignancy on FNAC. Therefore, cytopathologist should have adequate awareness of potential of erroneous diagnosis in FNAC of Warthin's tumor.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.63-68
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• 2006

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT), normally referred to as inflammatory pseudotumor, is a fairly rare condition. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of IMT has only rarely been reported. Here, we describe one such case of pulmonary inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor. A 30-year-old man presented with a 2.8cm-sized mass in his lung. Chest CT revealed a well defined, poorly enhancing mass. FNAC showed some fascicular or swirled clusters of spindle cells, admixed with occasional inflammatory cells and foamy histiocytes. The majority of the tumor cells evidenced bland, elongated nuclei, but infrequent pleomorphic nuclei. Some of the tumor cells evidenced nuclear grooves and intranuclear inclusions. Although the cytological differentiation of IMT from malignant lesions is not immensely problematic, due to the general paucity of cytological and nuclear atypia, a definite cytological diagnosis of IMT cannot be rendered simply by FNAC. Therefore, a diagnosis of IMT may be suggested via exclusive diagnosis.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.122-133
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• 1996

This is a retrospective review of fine-needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) smears of 153 cases of thyroid disease performed during August 1989 to July 1995, which were confirmed histologically following surgical operations. FNAC results showed 63 cases(41.2%) of adenomatous goiter, 45 cases(29.4%) of papillary carcinoma, 29 cases(19.0%) of follicular neoplasm, 4 cases(2.6%) of follicular variant of papillary carcinoma, 4 cases(2.6%) of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, 4 cases(2.6%) of $H\ddot{u}rthle$ cell neoplasm, 2 cases(1.3%) of medullary carcinoma and one case(0.7%) each of subacute thyroiditis and of anaplastic carcinoma. The overall accuracy of cytological diagnosis was 83.7%. These data strongly suggest thyroid FNAC is a reliable preoperative diagnostic tool, but FNAC has been less valuable in the diagnosis of follicular lesions than any other disease of the thyroid. Adenomatous goiter was not infrequently interpreted as follicular neoplasia that requires surgery for diagnostic conformation and vice versa. The following findings are considered to be compatible with follicular neoplasm: 1) microfollicles, 2) nuclear grooving, 3) irregularity of nuclear membrane, and 4) irregular arrangement or crowding of follicular cells in groups. The FNAC criteria of adenomatous goiter are as follows: 1) atrophic follicular cells, 2) presence of macrophages, 3) abundant colloid, and 4) large follicles. It is recommended that aspiration of thyroid lesions in order to analyse with critical clinico-pathological approach and surgery is considered only for nodules that are clinically suspicious or unresponsive to hormone therapy or when a diagnosis of follicular neoplasm is made.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.97-103
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• 2001

Carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma(CXPA) is a rare malignant tumor of the salivary gland, fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) of which are rarely reported. We retrospectively reviewed FNAC of five cases of histologically proven CXPA of the salivary glands diagnosed in Seoul National University Hospital to evaluate their cytologic characteristics. Histologically, the carcinoma components were low-grade in three cases and high-grade in two cases. The cytologic diagnosis were malignancy in two cases(40%), suspicious for malignancy in one(20%), and benign(pleomorphic adenoma) in two(40%). All of the high-grade carcinomas were correctly diagnosed by FNAC, however, 2 cases of low-grade carcinomas were diagnosed as benign by FNAC. The low sensitivity in cytologic diagnosis is due to interpretative difficulties in low-grade tumors. The characteristic cytologic features of CXPA were high cellularity, necrotic, bloody, and inflammatory background, marked nuclear overlapping, coarsely granular chromatin, prominent macronucleoli, and atypical mitosis in epithelial component in addition to the typical biphasic pattern of pleomorphic adenoma consisting of epithelial cells admired with spindle-shaped cells and chondromyxoid stroma. Even though low-grade tumors show mild pleomorphism, the cytologic findings of necrotic background, moderate to high cellularity, and nuclear overlapping could lead to an accurate cytodiagnosis of CXPA.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.52-56
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• 2005

Fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) has been used extensively in the diagnosis of metastatic malignancies. However, metastatic soft tissue sarcomas are often overlooked, primarily due to the low frequency with/ which they occur. Here, we report a rare case of metastatic rhabdomyosarcoma in both cervical lymph nodes, which was detected by FNAC. A 45-year-old woman presented with anosmia, postnasal drip, and sneezing, symptoms which had persisted for 1 month. The patient was found to have a tumorous lesion at the upper portion of the mid-turbinate, with multiple enlarged cervical lymph nodes, and this lesion was examined closely at our facility. FNA cytology smears obtained from both cervical lymph nodes revealed a high degree of cellularity, and displayed cohesive clusters with gland-like spaces, as well as single isolated cells with abundant karyorrhectic debris. The tumor cells exhibited round to oval nuclei containing fine chromatin, occasional small nucleoli, and scanty cytoplasm, or a total lack of cytoplasm. Some of the tumor cells were arranged in multinucleated forms and abundant dense eosinophilic cytoplasms, reminiscent of a rhabdomyoblast. The histological findings on the lymph nodes revealed an outstanding sinusoidal infiltration and a prominent alveolar growth pattern, interspersed with occasional typical rhabdomyoblasts. The immunohistochemical results [desmin (+), myoglobin (+), myogenin (+), pan CK (-), synaptophysin (-), neuron specific enolase (-)] supported a confirmative diagnosis of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is a representative sarcoma, which typically manifests with nodal metastasis and carcinoma-like clustering. The cytopathologist should remain alert upon encountering unusual morphology, so that the possibility of this condition, although somewhat remote, should not be dismissed or overlooked.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.68-73
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• 1990

A total of 48 cases of tuberculous lesion in the lymph nodes (43 cases), lung (3 cases) and soft tissue (2 cases), was subjected to fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). The age of the patients ranged from 19 to 77 year-old (average 33.6 years in age) and the male to female ratio was 1 : 4. Thirty-four cases (70.8%) demonstrated distinct granulomatous reaction with or without caseation necrosis, nine cases (18.8%) showed no granulomas, but large amount of necrotic debris with numerous polymorphonuclear cells and histiocytes, and five cases (10.4%) revealed acellular material only. The overall AFB positivity in smears was 62.5%. In areas associated with granulomatous reaction and necrosis, AFB positivity was 55.8%, while it was 80.0% in cases with acellular necrotic material. There were 2 cases of parasitic infestation which could not be easily differentiated from tuberculosis based on aspiration smears only.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.27-31
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• 2006

Periductal mastitis is a specific clinicopathologic entity, and is referred to by several names: recurrent subareolar abscess, squamous metaplasia of the lactiferous duct, and Zuska's disease. Clinically, the differentiation of periductal mastitis from other benign lesions and carcinomas around the nipple frequently proves a difficult proposition. We reviewed the fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of 14 cases of periductal mastitis, which had been diagnosed either radiologically, histologically, or clinically. The patient group included 13 female patients, and one male. The majority of the patients in this group had presented with subareolar masses. All cases evidenced characteristic anucleated squamous cell clusters within a mixed inflammatory background. A diagnosis of periductal mastitis can be rendered fairly readily on excisional biopsy. However, FNAC is considered to be superior to excisional biopsy as an initial diagnostic procedure for any palpable mass in subareolar lesions of the breast. FNAC can also be a useful diagnostic technique in cases of periductal mastitis, even in the early phases of the disease. A definitive diagnosis of subareolar abscess via FNAC will enable the clinician to select the most appropriate medical or surgical treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• 제11권2호
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• pp.109-114
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• 2000

Amyloid golfer is a rare disease entity that is defined as a symptomatic mass or clinically detectable thyroid enlargement because of amyloid deposition. We present a case of amyloid golfer diagnosed in the fine needle aspiration cytology(FNAC) in a 73-year-old Korean woman presented with nephrotic syndrome and thyroid enlargement. The thyroid function was in normal range. Thyroid scan showed a nodule, $4{\time}2cm$ in the right lobe with underlying diffuse golfer. Aspirates revealed benign looking follicular cells and scattered eosinophilic material. The sections of the cell block showed nodular deposit of eosinophilic hyalinized material in the interfollicular area. It showed apple-green birefringence under polarization with Congo red stain. The renal biopsy also exhibited deposition of eosinophilic materials in the glomeruli and interstitial vascular wall, which were confirmed as amyloidosis. This material was morphologically distinct from the colloid.