What is it about?

Few reports have documented exfoliative or aspiration cytological findings of metastatic angiosarcomas and the cytologic features of this tumor have not been fully detailed. How can we overcome a diagnostic pitfall in cytologic specimen ?

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Why is it important?

We describe the cytologic findings of the pleural fluid from a case of metastatic cutaneous angiosarcoma, along with discussions of the cytologic differential diagnosis. Being aware of both the morphologic clues of angiosarcoma and the clinical setting of metastatic cutaneous angiosarcoma might be helpful in the cytological diagnosis of angiosarcoma from pleural fluid.

Perspectives

This report emphasizes two key points. Firstly, awareness of both the morphologic clues of angiosarcoma and the clinical setting of metastatic cutaneous angiosarcoma, such as a patient’s presentation with spontaneous pneumothorax, massive hemothorax, or history of scalp tumor, might be helpful in the cytological diagnosis of angiosarcoma from pleural fluid. And secondly, although they are not pathognomonic, vasoformative patterns on pleural fluid cytology should prompt ancillary techniques, such as immunocytochemistry with vascular markers.

Professor Kyung Jin Seo
The Catholic University of Korea

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This page is a summary of: Metastatic pleural angiosarcoma: A diagnostic pitfall might be overcome by morphologic clues and clinical correlation, Diagnostic Cytopathology, June 2014, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1002/dc.23196.
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