Imprint cytologic features of pulmonary sclerosing hemangioma: comparison with well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Sclerosing hemangiomas (SH) of the lung are uncommon tumors and are thought to be benign. However, histogenesis of these tumors has not yet been characterized adequately. Moreover, there are few reports dealing with their cytologic features, and it is generally considered difficult to make accurate diagnoses of sclerosing hemangiomas that have a predominantly papillary pattern.


METHODS
Cytologic features were analyzed for 15 sclerosing hemangiomas, and cytologic features of sclerosing hemangioma were compared with features of 22 cases of well-differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma classified as pathologic Stage 1A.


RESULTS
Blood and round cells were observed more frequently in SH than in adenocarcinomas (P < 0.05), whereas necrosis was seen more frequently in adenocarcinomas than in SH (P < 0.05). The presence of nucleoli, nuclear indentations, irregularities of nuclear margins, nuclear polymorphisms, and high nuclear-cytoplasmic (NC) ratios of tumor cells were observed less frequently in SH. Polynuclear (having three or more nuclei) tumor cells were observed only in adenocarcinoma cases. In morphometric studies, the nuclear areas, cytoplasmic areas, NC ratios, long axes of nuclei, short axes of nuclei, and nuclear rotundity ratios were significantly higher in adenocarcinoma cells than in SH cells (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The presence of polymorphous cells and tumor cells with bland nuclei are characteristic cytologic findings associated with sclerosing hemangioma. It is possible to make accurate diagnoses for SH cases preoperatively by careful cytologic characterization.
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Akira
A
Iyoda
Masayuki
M
Baba
Hiroko
H
Saitoh
Hidehisa
H
Hoshino
Kiyoshi
K
Shibuya
Yasushi
Y
Nomoto
Fumio
F
Horiuchi
Kenzo
K
Hiroshima
Hidemi
H
Ohwada
Takehiko
T
Fujisawa
D000231:Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*