Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma is a rare malignant neoplasm and little is known about its radiological features. We present here four cases of follicular dendritic cell sarcomas and we provide the image characteristics of these tumors to help radiologists recognize this entity when making a diagnosis.
Adult ; Dendritic Cell Sarcoma, Follicular/pathology/*radiography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms/radiography ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology/radiography ; Humans ; Male ; Mediastinal Neoplasms/radiography ; Middle Aged ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Biopsy, Needle/*methods ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/*pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Radiography, Interventional/*methods ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of computer tomography (CT)-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) in the diagnosis of deep suprahyoid lesions in patients with treated head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between December, 2003 and May, 2011, 28 CT-guided CNBs were performed in 28 patients with deep suprahyoid head and neck lesions. All patients had undergone treatment for head and neck cancers. Subzygomatic, paramaxillary, and retromandibular approaches were used. The surgical results, response to treatment, and clinical follow-up were used as the diagnostic reference standards. RESULTS: All biopsies yielded adequate specimens for definitive histological diagnoses. A specimen from a right parapharyngeal lesion showed atypia, which was deemed a false negative diagnosis. Diagnostic accuracy was 27/28 (96.4%). Two minor complications were encountered: a local hematoma and transient facial palsy. Between the 18 or 20 gauge biopsy needles, there was no statistical difference in the diagnostic results. CONCLUSION: CT-guided core needle biopsy, with infrequent and minor complications, is an accurate and efficient method for the histological diagnosis of deep suprahyoid lesions in post-treated head and neck cancer patients. This procedure can preclude an unnecessary surgical intervention, especially in patients with head and neck cancers.
Adult ; Aged ; Biopsy, Needle/*methods ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Radiography, Interventional/*methods ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed/*methods

OBJECTIVETo study the diagnosis and treatment of the malignant tumor involving carotid artery.

METHODSA total of 23 cases of recurrent malignant tumors involving the carotid artery were included in this study. For the primary cancers, 8 of 23 cases were laryngeal carcinomas, 10 hypopharyngeal carcinomas, 2 thyroid carcinomas, 1 tonsil carcinoma, 1 parotid gland carcinoma, and 1 hypopharyngeal sarcoma with the invasion of cervical esophagus. Detailed evaluation on each case was performed before treatment. The relations of recurrent tumors with neck blood vessels were determined with enhanced CT/CTA. Of 23 cases with recurrent malignant tumors involving the carotid artery, 16 cases received surgery and 7 cases received the palliative treatment without operation.

RESULTSSeven patients with palliative treatments died of hemorrhage from the invaded neck blood vessels, systemic failure or pulmonary metastasis in six months. Of 16 cases with surgery, recurrent tumors were completely excised in 14 cases and there were residual tumor tissues on artery walls in 2 cases. Within 16 surgical cases, 2 cases died of neck hemorrhoea after one week because of infection, 2 cases died of lung metastasis 8 months later, 3 cases died of neck local recurrence 1 year later, 2 cases died of lung metastasis after 2 years, 1 case died of neck local recurrence 2 years later and 1 case died of a heart attack 2 years later. The rest 5 cases were alive.

CONCLUSIONSEnhancement CT/CTA can used in the evaluation for recurrent malignant tumors involving the carotid artery. Surgical treatments can be applied to some selected patients, which can improve the quality of life and survival time of the patients.

Aged ; Carotid Arteries ; pathology ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Invasiveness ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; pathology ; Radiography

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the usefulness of measuring the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to distinguish benign from small, non-necrotic metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-six consecutive patients with head and neck cancer underwent diffusion-weighted imaging (b value, 0 and 800 s/mm2) preoperatively between January 2009 and December 2010. Two readers independently measured the ADC values of each cervical lymph node with a minimum-axial diameter of > or = 5 mm but < 11 mm using manually drawn regions of interest. Necrotic lymph nodes were excluded. Mean ADC values were compared between benign and metastatic lymph nodes after correlating the pathology. RESULTS: A total of 116 lymph nodes (91 benign and 25 metastatic) from 25 patients were included. Metastatic lymph nodes (mean +/- standard deviation [SD], 7.4 +/- 1.6 mm) were larger than benign lymph nodes (mean +/- SD, 6.6 +/- 1.4 mm) (p = 0.018). Mean ADC values for reader 1 were 1.17 +/- 0.31 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.25 +/- 0.76 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values for reader 2 were 1.21 +/- 0.46 x 10-3 mm2/s for benign and 1.14 +/- 0.34 x 10-3 mm2/s for metastatic lymph nodes. Mean ADC values between benign and metastatic lymph nodes were not significantly different (p = 0.594 for reader 1, 0.463 for reader 2). CONCLUSION: Measuring mean ADC does not allow differentiating benign from metastatic cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck cancer and non-necrotic, small lymph nodes.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/pathology/*radiography ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes/pathology/*radiography ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Necrosis ; Patients ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Lateral neck node metastasis is an important prognostic factor in thyroid carcinoma. We developed a scoring system for use in prediction of lateral neck node metastasis from papillary thyroid cancer. In this study, 161 consecutive patients were included in the training data set. This scoring system, named the Yonsei Estimated Value (YEV) for lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid cancer, was developed on the basis of results from multivariate logistic regression analysis of preoperative clinical and radiologic data. Sixty eight consecutive patients were included for testing of the validity of the scoring system. The equation for prediction of lateral neck node metastasis was follows: YEV (Yonsei Estimated Value) = 1/(1+X) X = Exp (5.333-[0.902 x sex]+[0.036 x age]-[1.020 x tumor size]-[0.177 x lymph node size]-[0.032 x lymph node density]) When the YEV was 0.3 or more, the probability of lateral neck node metastasis was 79.0%, with sensitivity of 76.3%, specificity of 69.8%, positive predictive value of 56.7%, and negative predictive value of 85.1% in the training set. When fine needle aspiration biopsy for suspicious lateral neck nodes is not possible, or the results are inadequate, our scoring system for prediction of lateral neck node metastasis can be helpful in optimization of the surgical extent for each patient.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Algorithms ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/*diagnosis/secondary ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lymphatic Metastasis/*diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Predictive Value of Tests ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*pathology/radiography ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Angiosarcoma is an uncommon malignancy, which spread out from the endothelial cells of vessels. Scalp angiosarcoma with cervical lymph node metastasis is particularly rare. This article describes a rare case of angiosarcoma of the scalp, presenting as neck inflammation. Imaging procedures such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance image (MRI) and ultrasonography (US) were not sufficient to diagnose this case. A needle biopsy provided an effective and accurate diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis. Additional observation and physical examination was required to diagnose the origin of the primary cancerous lesion. Once the angiosarcoma diagnosis was confirmed histologically, sequential weekly and monthly docetaxel (DTX) treatment was effective in preventing reoccurrence. Nonetheless, the optimization of angiosarcoma treatment remains a future goal. Although patients generally describe pain and swelling at the primary lesion site, this patient complained only of painful neck inflammation, without any indication of pain or swelling of the scalp. A revised diagnostic protocol should note that cervical lymph node metastasis of unknown primary origin may result from angiosarcoma of the scalp.
Aged ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cranial Irradiation ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy ; Hemangiosarcoma ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Neck ; pathology ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Radiography ; Scalp ; pathology ; Skin Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; therapy ; Taxoids ; therapeutic use ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo study the clinicopathologic features and differential diagnosis of myxoid dermafibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP).

METHODSThe clinical and pathologic features of 16 cases of myxoid DFSP were reviewed.

RESULTSThere were altogether 15 males and 1 female. The age of the patients ranged from 11 to 73 years (mean = 47 years and median = 48 years). The commonest site of involvement was trunk (number = 11), followed by shoulder (number = 2), head and neck (number = 2), and extremity (number = 1). Similar to conventional DFSP, most patients presented with a slowly enlarging subcutaneous nodule which showed a rapid recent growth in some cases. Amongst the 16 cases studied, 12 occurred de novo and 4 represented local recurrence. The tumors ranged from 2 to 10 cm in greatest dimension (mean = 5 cm and median = 4 cm). Histologically, they were poorly circumscribed and located in the dermis, with focal infiltration into the underlying subcutaneous tissue. Seven cases were purely myxoid and composed of spindly and stellate cells with delicate arborizing vascular meshwork. The remaining 9 cases were predominantly myxoid (> 50%), with 5 cases containing cellular areas resembling conventional DFSP and 4 cases showing fibrosarcomatous transformation. In addition, foci of giant cell fibroblastoma-like areas were noted in 1 case. Immunohistochemical study showed that the tumors cells were positive for CD34. The staining was weak in the myxoid areas, as compared with conventional DFSP. Of the 4 recurrent cases, one patient developed lung metastases.

CONCLUSIONSMyxoid DFSP represents a rare variant of DFSP and may pose important diagnostic pitfalls. It is especially so if the tumor purely consists of myxoid element. Familiarity with the histologic features helps to avoid misdiagnosis.

Abdominal Wall ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigens, CD34 ; metabolism ; Child ; Dermatofibrosarcoma ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; pathology ; surgery ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; pathology ; surgery ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; secondary ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Radiography ; Shoulder ; Skin Neoplasms ; diagnostic imaging ; immunology ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult