Chondroid syringoma diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology

Chondroid syringoma is a rare benign skin adnexal tumor of eccrine/apocrine origin affecting commonly the head and neck region. It used to be previously called as mixed tumor of skin because of the presence of both the epithelial and mesenchymal components. There are only few case reports describing the fine needle aspiration cytologic features of chondroid syringoma for diagnosis. We studied a 20-year-old male case from Taplejung district of Nepal came to Otorhinolaryngology out patient department with the complaints of painless, progressively enlarging swelling on the dorsum of nose. On examination, 2.0 x 2.0 cm, firm, non-tender swelling was seen on the right side of dorsum of nose. Overlying skin was normal, and the swelling was fixed to the skin but freely mobile over underlying structure. A clinical diagnosis of dermoid cyst was entertained, and the case was subjected to FNAC. FNA yielded mucoid material which on microscopy showed clusters of round cells with moderate to abundant cytoplasm embedded in chondromyxoid ground substance. The nuclei were monomorphic, centrally to eccentrically located and had fine chromatin. On the basis of these cytologic features, a diagnosis of chondroid syringoma was made. We concluded that Chondroid syringoma may be considered as a rare differential diagnosis in the swelling of head and neck region and the diagnosis can be easily confirmed or ruled out by means of fine needle aspiration cytology.