Cyto-histopathological correlation of skin adnexal tumors: A short series

Background: Skin adnexal neoplasms are relatively rare and thus uncommonly encountered in routine pathology practice. Aims: The present study was conducted with the aim to diagnose various skin adnexal tumors on fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) followed by confirmation on histopathology and immunohistochemistry of the excised tumor. Materials and Methods: A total of 11 cases of superficial nodular swellings of the skin were studied over a period of 2 years from 2015 to 2016. FNAC of the swelling was performed and slides were stained with Giemsa stain. Following FNAC, the swelling was excised and subjected to histopathological examination. Immunohistochemistry was performed in some cases for confirmation. Results: It was observed that overall incidence of adnexal tumors (ATs) encountered on FNAC was very low. Typing of ATs on cytology was possible in 82% cases (9/11 cases) with diagnostic accuracy of 88% (8/9 cases). Most common tumor encountered in the study was nodular hidradenoma followed by pilomatrixoma, trichoepithelioma, cylindroma, chondroid syringoma, and trichilemmal cyst. Majority of the cases were benign except one case, which subsequently turned malignant. Conclusion: FNAC is a simple, safe, and cost-effective tool in diagnosing skin ATs. Cytological diagnosis of these lesions is depends on clinical correlation and cytomorphological features. FNAC in lesions suspected to be malignant can guide the surgeon regarding extent of excision.