title: Diagnosis of a granular cell tumour at the abdominal wall using fine needle aspiration cytology and histology: Case report.
abstract: This case report describes the use of fine needle aspiration cytology to diagnose a granular cell tumour (GCT) that presented as a painless, palpable mass at the abdominal wall in a 50-year-old woman who had had the mass for ≥1 year prior to presentation. Routine haematoxylin and eosin staining of the cytological smears demonstrated that the specimen was predominantly cellular; it contained both cell clusters and single cells with abundant granular cytoplasm and indistinct cell borders. Cells were fragile and had fairly uniform naked nuclei that were scattered with vacuolated and prominent nucleoli. Background material on the smears included eosinophilic, granular cytoplasmic material and some adipose tissue. Neither mitoses nor necrosis were observed. A cytological diagnosis of a GCT was confirmed by histological examination of a surgical specimen stained with haematoxylin and eosin. This case report found that the GCT had a characteristic cytological appearance and that cells with prominent nucleoli can be present in benign GCTs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Jinhua Central Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Jinhua Central Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Jinhua Central Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Hongqi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Jinhua Central Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Shanxian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Jinhua Central Hospital, Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, China zhuqshenw@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D034861:Abdominal Wall / Q000473:pathology*; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D005260:Female; D016586:Granular Cell Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Granular cell tumour; cytology; fine needle; nucleoli