• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.187-191
• /
• 1998

Alveolar soft part sarcoma(ASPS) is a rare malignant neoplasm with a distinct clinicopathologic entity of which fine needle aspiration(FNA) cytologic findings have been described in only a few reports. Although patients usually present with an isolated soft-tissue mass in the extremity, metastasis can occur in about 13 % of total cases and the most frequent metastatic site is the lung. We have recently experienced a FNA cytologic case of ASPS in the lung. A 23-year-old female patient was admitted to this hospital due to 2-month-history of cough She had been good in health before the visit. Chest computed tomography revealed multiple, variable sized, bilateral pulmonary nodules. Physical examination and other staging work up revealed no other lesions except for pulmonary nodules. A percutaneous transthoracic FNA was performed from the pulmonary nodules. The smear was cellular and most cells were arranged singly. In addition, a few clusters lined by thin-walled vasculature with a pseudoalveolar pattern were present. Some of the tumor cells were large and polygonal lo oval with abundant granular or vacuolated cytoplasm. Most cells were naked nuclei showing finely granular chromatin pattern with prominent central nucleoli.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.43 no.3
• /
• pp.339-347
• /
• 1996

Background : Transthoracic fine needle aspiration and biopsy(TNAB) has become a frequently used technique in the investigation of the intrathoracic lesions because of its safety, reliability, and accuracy. Method : Data on 125 patients who underwent TNAB from 1990 through 1994 were studied to determine the diagnostic sensitivity, accuracy and complications of this procedure as related to lesion type and location. Results : 1. The over-all diagnostic sensitivity of TNAB was 61.6%(77 of 125 patients). 2. The diagnostic yields were as high as 89.9% for malignant lesions, but a specific diagnosis of benign lesions were obtained only in 30% of benign lung lesions. 3. The correlation between results of TNAB cytology and of final histology was as high as 88.2%. 4. Lung lesions that were greater than 3cm in size had a higher proportion of correct diagnosis(73.3%) as compared with lesions 3cm or less in size(38.1%). But there was no significant difference between the central and peripheral lung lesions. 5. There were no serious complications to TNAB. In 12.8% of the procedures a pneumothorax developed, indicating a chest tube in 1.6% of the procedures. In 2 cases, minimal hemoptysis developed which did not require treatment. Conclusion : In our experience, TNAB represents a minor and safe procedure, which permits a direct approach to localized malignant lung lesions with a high degree of accuracy.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.618-623
• /
• 1995

Cryptococcosis is a systemic mycosis that most often involves the lungs and central nervous system and, less frequently, the skin, skeletal system, and prostate gland. Cryptococcus neoformans, the causative organism, is a yeastlike round or oval fungus, 4 to $6{\mu}m$ in diameter, which is surrounded by a polysaccharide capsule and reproduces by budding and found in soil and other environmental areas, especially those contaminated by pigeon droppings. Humans and animals acquire infection after inhalation of aerosolized spores. Condition or factors that predispose to cryptococcosis include corticosteroid therapy, lymphoreticular malignancies, HIV infection, and sarcoidosis etc. We discribed a case of cryptococcosis involving lung and CNS coincidently without specific underlying disease and the literature on subject were reviewed. A fifty-six year-old previously healthy female presented with headache of 3 months of duration. She had no history suggesting immunologic suppression and we could not find any abnormal laboratory findings including blood sugar, serum immunoglobulin and complement level, HIV antibody, and T cell subsets. Chest roentgenogram and CT scan showed a solitary soft tissue mass in LUL with distal pneumonitis. Brain MRI showed granulomatous lesion in cerebellum and parasagittal cortex of right frontal lobe. The diagnosis was made by bronchoscopic brushing cytology, transthoracic fine needle aspiration, and sputum KOH mount and culture. She was treated 6 weeks course of Amphotericin B and switched to oral fluconazole therapy for 3 months. Her symptoms and X-ray findings were improved gradually and she is now under regular clinical follow up.