1999 Volume 38 Issue 6 Pages 583-586
Background: The appearance of cells from squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix in pericardial effusion is rare. At first sight, tumor cells are often misdiagnosed as adenocarcinoma cells because they form balls of cells.
Case: A 30-year-old woman visited our hospital with irregular genital bleeding and was diagnosed as squamous cell carcinoma by cytology and biopsy of the uterine cervix. Hysterectomy, radiation therapy and chemotherapy were performed. Two years and six months later, pericardial effusion was found and the bloody effusion was drawn.However she died after 1 month and an autopsy was performed.
Conclusion: Tumor cells formed cell balls and a lot of these balls were observed in the pericardial effusion. The cytoplasmic rim was clear. Nuclei were round and located in the central area of the cells. The majoritn of tumor cells were stained granular by PAS and were positive for keratin-13 (K-13) on immunocytochemistry. We diagnsed these tumor cells as squamous cell carcinoma cells.
