Abstract
Background : We present two cases of paraganglioma in which imprint cytology of the resected tumors was effective for the diagnosis.
Cases : Case 1. A Japanese woman in her 60s was found to have a tumor adjacent to the retroperitoneum during the operation for a malignant ovarian tumor. Case 2. A Japanese man in his 60s with hypertension was detected to have a left adrenal tumor by computed tomography.
Imprint cytology findings : In both cases, the tumor cells had numerous vesicles in the cytoplasm that were loosely cohesive. The cells were distributed singly or arranged in sheets, and showed anisokaryosis. Melanin-like pigment in the first case and eosinophilic granules in the second case were observed in the cytoplasm of the tumor cells. Some tumor cells showed a pattern characteristic of “Zellballen”. Rapid frozen-section examination suggested the diagnosis of paraganglioma.
Immunocytochemistry (ICC) and histopathology findings : Some tumor cells examined by ICC after fixation in LiqiPrep solution showed positive staining for chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and vimentin. From these and the histopathological findings, the final diagnosis of both tumors was confirmed as paraganglioma.
Conclusion : Paraganglioma is a rare tumor, in which the cytopathology and histopathology often show the characteristic pattern of “Zellballen”.
