Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (inflammatory variant) in a child presenting as paraparesis.

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) in the pediatric age group is extremely rare. Inflammatory variant of MFH is still rarer in children, to the extent that only few case reports of inflammatory variant of MFH are available in the English literature. This report is of a case in a 4-year-old male child, who presented with a chest wall swelling. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) smears showed neutrophilic infiltrate was seen in and around the tumor cells showing a prominent neutrophillic phagocytosis. Possibilities of malignant fibrous histiocytoma, malignant rhabdoid tumor and malignant histiocytosis were offered on cytology. Subsequently, an excision biopsy was performed and was diagnosed as inflammatory variant of MFH. Differential diagnosis of this type of tumor with prominent neutrophillic phagocytosis is discussed with importance of immunostaining for diagnosis. Paraparesis as a presenting feature of inflammatory MFH is rare in children and has not been reported in the literature to the best of our knowledge.