Intraoperative squash and touch cytology of chondroid chordoma of the skull base. Report of a case with immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical studies.
BACKGROUND
Chondroid chordoma is a rare variant of chordoma and is usually located in the sphenooccipital region. This tumor shows clinical and histologic features common to both conventional chordoma and low grade chondrosarcoma and has a better prognosis than either of those lesions. To our knowledge, there has been no English language report describing its cytologic features.


METHODS
The cytologic features of skull base chondroid chordoma observed in intraoperative crush and touch preparations from a 33-year-old female are reported. Touch cytology revealed round or stellate cells distributed in a mucoid background without a typical epithelial cordlike arrangement. The cells had variably vacuolated cytoplasm and round or oval nuclei and showed slight cellular pleomorphism. May-Giemsa staining was superior to Papanicolaou staining in demonstrating the mucoid matrix and vacuolated cytoplasm of the tumor cells. Additionally, crush preparations were effective in demonstrating well-differentiated chondroid elements. Immunocytochemistry with positivity for S-100 protein and cytokeratins was an essential adjunct in the cytologic diagnosis of chordoma and helped in distinguishing it from other chondrogenic tumors.


CONCLUSIONS
It is possible and advantageous to diagnose chondroid chordoma with a combination of cytologic and immunocytochemical studies of intraoperative crush and touch preparations in conjunction with clinical and radiographic information.
Nabeshima
K
K
Second Department of Pathology, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.
Sato
S
S
Sameshima
T
T
Goya
T
T
Ohno
A
A
Hinoura
Y
Y
Koono
M
M
D000328:Adult; D002356:Cartilage / Q000737:chemistry; D002813:Chondrosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D002817:Chordoma / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006652:Histological Techniques; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009418:S100 Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis*
D009418:S100 Proteins; D007633:Keratins