Fine needle aspiration biopsy diagnosis of primary clear cell chondrosarcoma: A case report

Clear cell chondrosarcoma is a rare chondrosarcoma variant often involving the long bone epiphyses of young to middle aged adults. We report herein a case involving the left femoral head in a 25‐year‐old female with a 3‐month history of worsening left hip pain. Radiographs revealed a complex, multifocal and lytic lesion centered in the left proximal femoral epiphysis with involvement of the femoral neck. Computed tomography‐guided fine needle aspiration biopsy with concomitant core needle biopsy was performed, and a diagnosis of clear cell chondrosarcoma was rendered. Cytologic smears revealed aggregates of matrix material accompanied by a population of mostly uniform spindled to epithelioid and histiocytoid cells, rarely accompanied by osteoclast‐type giant cells. The patient underwent surgical resection with ‐total hip replacement, and subsequent pathologic examination confirmed the initial needle biopsy diagnosis. There has been no evidence of local recurrence or distant metastases with 3‐years follow‐up. To our knowledge, this is the first reported example of a primary clear cell chondrosarcoma initially evaluated by fine needle aspiration biopsy.