Minimally invasive diagnosis of a pericardial mass by CT-guided fine-needle aspiration

• DOI: 10.1016/j.carpath.2016.03.005
• Publication Date: 2016-04-03T04:14:48Z
• Authors: Cinta Llibre; Xavier Saenz-Sardà; Victòria Vilalta; Laura Tria; Maria Llatjós; Aurelio Ariza; Antoni Bayes-Genis
• Keywords: Biopsy, Fine-Needle; Hemangiosarcoma; Middle Aged; Radiography, Interventional; Immunohistochemistry; Heart neoplasms; Fine needle aspiration; 3. Good health; Heart Neoplasms; 03 medical and health sciences; Fatal Outcome; 0302 clinical medicine; Diagnosis/differential; Biomarkers, Tumor; Humans; Pericardium/pathology; Female; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Pericardium

The preferred management of a cardiac mass remains controversial, but it often includes open-chest surgical excision to obtain an adequate tissue sample for histological workup. We herein report a less invasive approach in which an accurate and timely cytological diagnosis of pericardial angiosarcoma was reached by studying a CT-guided fine-needle aspiration cell block. The cell block showed proliferation of atypical cells with occasional mitotic figures, vasoformative features, and immunoreactivity to WT1, vimentin, CD31, CD34, ERG, and Ki67. Recourse to fine-needle aspiration and cell block study is a valuable diagnostic approach to be considered when a cardiac mass is percutaneously accessible.