Cytopathology

The case presented demonstrates a metastatic renal cell carcinoma involving the right scapular bone diagnosed by CT-guided FNA. Upon final review of the slides, a surprising tissue fragment was identified on the cell block H&E stained sections that was morphologically different than the sampled tumor. This fragment was identified outside the periphery of the HistoGelTM embedding material. Reviewing the patient’s history, there was no indication that this patient had multiple primary malignancies. Additionally, there was no indication the procedure may have inadvertently sampled the wrong location. The tissue disappeared on deeper sections, precluding further evaluation. Comparison of the potential floater to specimens which were accessioned at the same time and processed in tandem both in the cytology and histology laboratories identified a cellular specimen with similar tumor morphology taken from a patient with metastatic squ amous cell carcinoma (pictured below). Thus, the identified tissue fragment in the presented case was presumed to be a floater or contaminant from this other specimen. [Post-images 1-3]