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Case Reports
. 2009 Apr;26(2):74-6.
doi: 10.4103/0970-9371.55226.

Cytologic features of pulmonary blastoma

Cn Sai Shalini  1 , Leena Dennis Joseph, Georgi Abraham, D Prathiba, S Rajendiran
Affiliations
Case Reports

Cytologic features of pulmonary blastoma

Cn Sai Shalini et al. J Cytol. 2009 Apr.

Abstract

Pulmonary blastomas are rare lung neoplasms constituting 0.5% of all lung tumors. This tumor has an aggressive course and needs to be recognized on cytology. A preoperative diagnosis of pulmonary blastoma is difficult to obtain by cytopathologic methods. A diagnosis of biphasic pulmonary blastoma should be considered when there is a dimorphic population of cells on cytology. A 30-year-old male presented with gradually progressing breathlessness and left-sided chest pain for the past one month. Chest radiograph and computed tomography of thorax revealed an anterior mediastinal mass that was subjected to ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology. Aspiration cytology showed a highly cellular lesion with a dimorphic population of tumor cells in a necrotic background. The possibility of a non-small cell carcinoma was suggested. Subsequent histopathology revealed the tumor to be a pulmonary blastoma. The importance of recognizing the dimorphic population of cells in cytology is discussed.

Keywords: Cytology; pulmonary blastoma; vertebral secondaries.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Cellular smears showing two types of malignant cells (MGG, ×100)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tumor cells with pleomorphic nuclei and indistinct nucleoli (MGG, ×200)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Tumor composed of primitive glandular structures lined by columnar cells (H and E, ×200)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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