FIBROUS HISTIOCYTOMA ARISING ON THE FACE – AN UNEXPECTED DIAGNOSIS
Abstract
Introduction: Fibrous histiocytoma represents a group of common benign lesions that occur mainly on the extremities. The location on the face is rare and here, more aggressive variants and higher local recurrence are described.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective clinicopathological study of cases of fibrous histiocytoma arising on the face at the Dermatology Service of the Hospital Egas Moniz and the “Centro de Dermatologia Médico-Cirúrgica” in Lisbon, between January 2001 and December 2012.
Results: In a total of 1307 fibrous histiocytoma (any location), 12 were located on the face. These lesions occurred in 8 females and 4 males (mean age 48.9 years). The preferred location was the nose (4 cases) followed by the chin (3 cases), interciliar (3 cases), infraorbital (1 case) and ear (1case). The most common clinical diagnosis was epidermoid cyst (5 cases). Histologically, the majority of tumors (10 cases) reached the deep dermis. Six cases showed common morphology. Three cases corresponded to the cellular variant of fibrous histiocytoma, two cases aneurysmal fibrous histiocytoma and one case hemosiderotic fibrous histiocytoma. In five cases mild pleomorphism and mitotic activity were evident. Necrosis, neural and / or vascular invasion were not identified. In seven lesions immunohistochemical studies for differential diagnosis were performed.
Conclusion: In most cases correlation with the clinical diagnosis was not observed. Compared with common fibrous histiocytoma, involvement of deep structures, cell density and pleomorphism are more frequent, leading to a need of greater clinical vigilance and excision with wider safety margins.
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