Epithelioid hemangioma: morphological presentation on aspiration smears

Epithelioid hemangioma (EH) or angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia is an uncommon but distinctive lesion seen principally in the skin and subcutaneous tissue. The histopathology of this disease is very characteristic, but error in diagnosis is possible on cytopathology. There are very few case reports describing the cytomorphology of this lesion. We describe the findings of fine-needle aspiration of two cases of EH both arising in the subcutaneous tissue of the head and neck. Both the cases were misdiagnosed on cytology with one case being misinterpreted for an epithelioid sarcoma and the other for a reactive lymph node. The cytological findings of these cases are described and the problems encountered in the diagnosis of this entity are highlighted in this case report.