Diagnostic Evaluation of Skin Adnexal Tumors by Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology

Abstract

Background: The diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors is usually based on histopathology. However, fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) can be of great help and shows a high degree of correlation to the final diagnosis. It is helpful in many situations where skin lesions are a manifestation of certain systemic syndromes and aids to the formation of precise treatment plans. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out to assess the diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors based on FNAC and their comparison with histopathological diagnoses. There were 14 patients with FNAC and histopathological follow-up in whom a final diagnosis of skin adnexal tumor was made. The results of FNAC were compared with histopathological diagnoses for complete correlation, partial correlation (cases where an FNAC diagnosis of skin adnexal tumor was made but a precise diagnosis of the subtype was not possible) or no correlation (where FNAC failed to diagnose a skin adnexal tumor). Results: Among the 14 cases of skin adnexal tumor, there was total correlation between the FNAC diagnosis and final histopathological diagnosis in 8 cases (57.1%) and a partial correlation in 4 cases (28.5%). There was no correlation of the FNAC diagnosis with the histopathological diagnosis in only 2 cases (14.3%). Conclusions: FNAC is very useful in making a diagnosis of skin adnexal tumors and helps in the management of the patient.

Fine‐needle aspiration cytology in primary cutaneous tumors

“…The further subtyping and categorization are difficult on cytology alone. In the present study, a complete cytology histology correlation was seen in 42.8% cases, which is comparable with the available literature . The accuracy of FNAB is higher in differentiating benign and malignant nature of the lesion and 82.1% lesions in the study were correctly classified.…”

“…In our series, of the five benign skin adnexal tumors (two nodular hidradenoma, one eccrine poroma, one cylindroma, one syringocystadenoma papilliferum) four were correctly categorized as benign, and an adxenal origin was suggested. In cases of nodular hidradenoma, the lack of pale vacuolated cells, and abundance of a single cell population, which leads to diagnostic difficulties has been documented by other authors as well . Till date, scattered case reports on cytomorphology of eccrine porocarcinomas are available in literature .…”

“…Various authors have demonstrated that the strength of FNAB in the diagnosis of skin adnexal lesions lies in identification of the adnexal origin and malignant vs. benign nature. The further subtyping and categorization are difficult on cytology alone.…”

“…Irrespective, cytological examination remains an important tool in the preoperative investigation of skin tumors and also in evaluation of recurrent neoplastic lesions. [1][2][3][4] Here we have evaluated the role of FNAB in the diagnosis of dermal lesions.…”

“…However, it is not widely practiced for primary skin lesions, due to easy availability of excision and biopsy specimens and presence of a wide range of lesions that require architectural details for categorization. Irrespective, cytological examination remains an important tool in the preoperative investigation of skin tumors and also in evaluation of recurrent neoplastic lesions . Here we have evaluated the role of FNAB in the diagnosis of dermal lesions.…”