Fine-needle aspiration cytology and immunocytochemistry of soft-tissue tumors and osteo/chondrosarcomas of the head and neck.

The purpose of the study was to present the clinical and cytological findings of 28 cases of malignant or borderline mesenchymal tumors of the head and neck, of which 22 originated from soft tissue and 6 were found in bone or cartilage. The basic procedures employed involved a cytologic review and subclassification of fine-needle aspiration (FNA) smears from the tumors, which were diagnosed as: pleomorphic sarcomas (5 poorly differentiated, 1 angiosarcoma, and 1 epithelioid sarcoma), spindle-cell sarcomas (2 leiomyosarcomas, 2 malignant mesenchymal tumors, and 1 malignant schwannoma), myxoid sarcomas (2 liposarcomas and 1 high-grade tumor), round-cell tumors (1 malignant histiocytic tumor and 1 chloroma), osteosarcomas (3), chondrosarcomas (3), and borderline tumors (2 pleomorphic lipoma, 1 myxolipoma, 1 cranial fasciitis, and 1 fibromatosis). Histological correlation and problems in subtyping on both cytologic and histological material are discussed. It is concluded that FNA cytology can be used with high accuracy to diagnose musculoskeletal tumors in rare sites such as the head and neck.