Duodenal carcinoid tumor: report of a case diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy with immunocytochemical correlation

Fine-needle aspiration biopsy is a reliable and accurate method for the endoscopic diagnosis of gastrointestinal malignancies and it is particularly well suited for evaluation of submucosal lesions. We report the cytopathologic findings of a case of malignant carcinoid tumor of a 44-year-old male who presented with melena and a nonhealing duodenal ulcer. Endoscopic ultrasound examination revealed a submucosal lesion in the pyloric region. Fine-needle aspiration revealed abundant cellularity with tumor cells arranged in sheets and loose groups and dispersed single cells in a clean background. Papillary fragments, capillaries cuffed by tumor cells, and rosette formation were also noted. The cells were moderate in size, round to oval, with a small subpopulation of spindle-shaped cells. The nuclei were uniform, round to oval, with smooth nuclear borders. The chromatin pattern was finely granular with a salt-and-pepper appearance. The cytoplasm of the cells was small to moderate in amount, pale, and showed fine granularity. The differential diagnosis included a neuroendocrine neoplasm vs. an epithelioid gastrointestinal stromal tumor. The tumor cells were focally positive for chromogranin and negative for CD34, supporting the diagnosis of a neuroendocrine neoplasm. The differential diagnosis of primary gastrointestinal carcinoid tumors from gastrointestinal stromal tumors can be very difficult in cytologic material. In cases when diagnostic material is scant, or only present on one smear, the use of smear division and cell transfer in order to perform immunocytochemical stains may be of considerable value to confirm the neuroendocrine nature of the neoplasms.