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What is your diagnosis? Cervical mass in a cat
Author(s) -
Steinberg Jennifer D.,
Keating John H.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
veterinary clinical pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1939-165X
pISSN - 0275-6382
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-165x.2008.00033.x
Subject(s) - pathology , reed–sternberg cell , lymph node , population , lymphoma , lymphoid hyperplasia , follicular hyperplasia , cytology , giant cell , germinal center , cytopathology , histiocyte , multinucleate , histopathology , reticular fiber , cd20 , lymphocyte , biology , medicine , b cell , antibody , immunology , environmental health , hodgkin lymphoma
An 8‐year‐old female spayed domestic shorthair cat was presented for several months of weight loss, decreased appetite, and 2 bilateral, ventral cervical masses. Initial cytologic samples were interpreted as reactive lymphoid hyperplasia. Evaluation of subsequent mass aspirates revealed small numbers of large binucleated and multinucleated cells resembling Reed–Sternberg cells admixed with more numerous small and intermediate‐sized lymphocytes. In histopathologic sections, the normal architecture of the lymph node was largely effaced by a slightly heterogeneous mass composed of round cells arranged in densely cellular sheets with a minor population of large (25‐μm diameter) mononuclear cells and a few very large (30–40‐μm diameter) binucleated or multinucleated cells interpreted as Reed–Sternberg‐like cells. Immunohistochemically, the large neoplastic (Reed–Sternberg‐like) cells were negative for CD18, CD3, CD20, and CD79a while the background population consisted of about 70% T cells and 30% B cells. This pattern of immunohistochemical staining along with cytologic and histopathologic findings supported a diagnosis of Hodgkin's‐like lymphoma, specifically, the lymphocyte‐rich subtype. Hodgkin's‐like lymphoma has been reported previously in cats and should be suspected when Reed‐Sternberg‐like cells are observed in cytologic preparations of lymph node aspirates. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry are necessary for a definitive diagnosis.