Nuclear pseudoinclusions in fine-needle aspiration cytology of hepatic angiomyolipoma: Case report

A nodular lesion was found in the fourth segment of the liver in a 51-yr-ol d Caucasian woman and subjected to aspiration cytology. Smears exhibited so lid sheets or small aggregates of epithelioid cells with numerous nuclear p seudoinclusions, scanty mature adipocytes, and red blood cells. With a pres umptive diagnosis of angiomyolipoma, the patient underwent laparotomy with resection of the nodule; histologic and immunohistochemical findings confir med the diagnosis, identifying the trabecular variant. Although the presence of nuclear pseudoinclusions has been previously repor ted in renal angiomyolipomas, this cytologic feature has not received adequ ate attention in liver localization, where only cell block samples have bee n reported. Therefore, when the typical different cellular components of an giomyolipomas are absent in cytologic smears, nuclear pseudoinclusions shou ld not be regarded as a criterion of malignancy, but they may be considered as an additional nonspecific cytological feature in hepatic angiomyolipoma . Diagn, Cytopathol. 2000;22:390-393. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.