title: Aspiration cytology diagnosis of a primary amyloid tumor of thoracic vertebra: a case report.
abstract: Isolated primary amyloid tumor of bone is rare; however, preoperative diagnosis can be rewarding because the prognosis is excellent. There are no clinical or roentgenographic criteria that can establish this diagnosis. There are few previous reports of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) where diagnosis of amyloidoma was made retrospectively. They describe the presence of extracellular hyaline material along with plasma cells and lymphocytes. A 35-year-old female was referred to the FNA clinic with swelling in the right upper chest wall. Radiologic findings revealed a destructive lytic lesion involving the bodies of D1 and D2 vertebrae with extension into surrounding soft tissue. Repeated FNA smears were hypocellular but had abundant homogeneous flocculent material, which stained positive with Congo red. A few plasma cells and foreign-body giant cells were also seen. We conclude that preoperative FNA cytology diagnosis of amyloid tumor is possible. Hypocellular smears with flocculent material, plasma cells, and foreign-body giant cells in absence of granulation tissue should suggest the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Shahdra, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Varsha
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Manucha
authors.forename: Vinod K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Arora
authors.forename: Navjeevan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Arati
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhatia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000682:Amyloid / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D003224:Congo Red / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011859:Radiography; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003224:Congo Red