Aspiration cytology of glomus tumor - A case report

BACKGROUND: Glomus tumor is a relatively uncommon soft tissue tumor that ca n occur at any age and anatomic site, with a predilection for the subungual region. CASE: A 24-year-old female presented with a gradually enlarging, painful sw elling in the subungual region of the right index finger. Fine needle aspir ation was performed under a ring block and yielded hemorrhagic material. Th e smears revealed clusters of uniform, round to oval cells admixed with wis ps of magenta intercellular myxoid material and a few spindle-shaped cells crossing clusters of tumor cells. A diagnosis of benign vascular tumor cons istent with glomus tumor was given. Subsequent histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis and showed a-SMA positivity on immunohistochemistry . CONCLUSION: This case report is the second on the cytologic features of glo mus tumor in the English-language literature, Although the cytomorphologic features of glomus tumor are quite distinctive, an appropriate clinical his tory and immunohistochemical stains (e.g., alpha -SMA and vimentin positivi ty) can further help to ascertain the diagnosis.