Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma a series of five cytologic cases with literature review and emphasis on diagnostic pitfalls

Qian, Xiaohua ; Hornick, Jason L. ; Cibas, Edmund S. ; Dal Cin, Paola and Domanski, Henryk LU (2012) In Diagnostic Cytopathology 40. p.86-93
Abstract
Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is an uncommon and mostly indolent soft tissue neoplasm, which usually occurs in the subcutaneous tissue of the extremities in children and young adults. Although the histologic features of AFH are well established, reports of its cytomorphology are very limited. This report characterizes the cytomorphologic features of five cases of AFH, with correlation to clinical, histology, and cytogenetic findings. Smears of fine needle aspiration (FNA; four cases) and intraoperative scrape (one case) were reviewed from five patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of AFH. A review of six previously reported AFH cases with cytomorphology was also performed. The tumor presented as a cystic, deep dermal... (More)
Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is an uncommon and mostly indolent soft tissue neoplasm, which usually occurs in the subcutaneous tissue of the extremities in children and young adults. Although the histologic features of AFH are well established, reports of its cytomorphology are very limited. This report characterizes the cytomorphologic features of five cases of AFH, with correlation to clinical, histology, and cytogenetic findings. Smears of fine needle aspiration (FNA; four cases) and intraoperative scrape (one case) were reviewed from five patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of AFH. A review of six previously reported AFH cases with cytomorphology was also performed. The tumor presented as a cystic, deep dermal mass in three pediatric cases and as a solid, deeply seated mass in two adults. The cytomorphologic features are mostly nondistinctive and include cellular smears with ovoid to spindled histiocytoid cells that may be isolated or in clusters. Some of these cells are atypical and others contain hemosiderin. Large cellular clusters with a capillary structure and a whorled arrangement of tumor cells can be appreciated in some cases. There is always a bloody background, but a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate is uncommon. The presences of EWSR1 rearrangement in one case and three copies of FUS gene in another case were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Diagnosing AFH by FNA cytology alone can be challenging because of its rarity and usually nonspecific cytologic findings. Clinical correlation and ancillary studies are essential to reach a specific diagnosis of AFH in small needle biopsies. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma, AFH, fine needle aspiration, cytology, soft tissue tumor, fluorescence in situ hybridization
in
Diagnostic Cytopathology
volume
40
pages
86 - 93
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • wos:000308039400002
  • scopus:84865663712
ISSN
8755-1039
DOI
10.1002/dc.21830
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Pathology, (Lund) (013030000)
id
06269ed5-d301-49f2-b8a3-9418400f7650 (old id 3147227)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:36:53
date last changed
2022-04-27 23:43:15
@article{06269ed5-d301-49f2-b8a3-9418400f7650,
  abstract     = {{Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (AFH) is an uncommon and mostly indolent soft tissue neoplasm, which usually occurs in the subcutaneous tissue of the extremities in children and young adults. Although the histologic features of AFH are well established, reports of its cytomorphology are very limited. This report characterizes the cytomorphologic features of five cases of AFH, with correlation to clinical, histology, and cytogenetic findings. Smears of fine needle aspiration (FNA; four cases) and intraoperative scrape (one case) were reviewed from five patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of AFH. A review of six previously reported AFH cases with cytomorphology was also performed. The tumor presented as a cystic, deep dermal mass in three pediatric cases and as a solid, deeply seated mass in two adults. The cytomorphologic features are mostly nondistinctive and include cellular smears with ovoid to spindled histiocytoid cells that may be isolated or in clusters. Some of these cells are atypical and others contain hemosiderin. Large cellular clusters with a capillary structure and a whorled arrangement of tumor cells can be appreciated in some cases. There is always a bloody background, but a lymphoplasmacytic infiltrate is uncommon. The presences of EWSR1 rearrangement in one case and three copies of FUS gene in another case were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization. Diagnosing AFH by FNA cytology alone can be challenging because of its rarity and usually nonspecific cytologic findings. Clinical correlation and ancillary studies are essential to reach a specific diagnosis of AFH in small needle biopsies. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.}},
  author       = {{Qian, Xiaohua and Hornick, Jason L. and Cibas, Edmund S. and Dal Cin, Paola and Domanski, Henryk}},
  issn         = {{8755-1039}},
  keywords     = {{angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma; AFH; fine needle aspiration; cytology; soft tissue tumor; fluorescence in situ hybridization}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{86--93}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{Diagnostic Cytopathology}},
  title        = {{Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma a series of five cytologic cases with literature review and emphasis on diagnostic pitfalls}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/dc.21830}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/dc.21830}},
  volume       = {{40}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}