Abstract Objective: To study morphological spectrum of Pleomorphic Adenoma and its limitation on fine needle aspiration cytology.
Material and Methods: 40 cases of Pleomorphic Adenoma were evaluated for variations in cytolological features. Morphological variables like pattern of epithelial cells, type and extent of mesenchymal matrix, metaplastic cells, nuclear chromatin were evaluated to avoid diagnostic pitfalls.
Result: Female preponderance was noted (62.5%) amongst the total of 40 cases with Male:Female ratio of 0.6. Mean age of 43.8 years was noted with parotid being the commonest site of presentation (77.5%). Most of the cases showed classical picture in form of abundant chondromyxoid stroma with clusters and enmeshed epithelial cells. However,
few cases revealed deviation from classical cytological features which could create a diagnostic dilemma.
Conclusion: FNAC is a fairly accurate pre-operative procedure for diagnosis of Pleomorphic Adenoma. Pathologists need to be aware of cytological variations to avoid diagnostic pitfalls.
Keywords:Cytology; Histopathology; Spectrum; Chondromyxoid; Epithelial; Mesenchymal.