ANGIOMYOFIBROBLASTOMA OF THE VULVA - A CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF 7CASES

A clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical review was made of seven c ases of angiomyofibroblastoma. The patients were middle-aged women who had a slowly growing mass, measuring 1.5-6 cm in maximum dimension, l ocated subcutaneously in the vulva, The tumors were well-demarcated an d characterized by well-vascularized, alternating hypercellular and hy pocellular edematous areas composed of bland, plump spindle- or oval-s haped stromal cells frequently aggregated around small blood vessels, An epithelioid appearance of the stromal cells was seen in two cases. Immunohistochemically, the stromal cells were consistently positive fo r vimentin and desmin, but negative for muscle specific actin, alpha-s mooth muscle actin, myosin, cytokeratins, S-100 protein or von Willebr and factor, Ultrastructurally, the plump stromal cells had a small amo unt of peripherally located rough endoplasmic reticulum, numerous pino cytotic vesicles and abundant intermediate filaments, on which immunog old probes for desmin were localized, whereas fine filaments were few and there were no electron dense plaques, Thus, while the proliferatin g stromal cells expressed an immunohistochemical profile of peculiar m yoid differentiation, ultrastructural findings differed from those of smooth muscle cells or those seen in typical myofibroblasts, At 1-4 ye ars after surgery, there was no evidence of recurrence,