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Haemoglobin spherulosis: Fine needle aspiration biopsy of an unusual ocular lesion
Bindu S Challa1, Paul E Wakely1
1Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Objective:
Haemoglobin spherulosis (HS) is a rare lesion occurring post-vitreous haemorrhage that is absent from the cytopathology literature.
Methods:
We present the fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy cytological features of a case of HS occurring in a 73-year-old woman.
Results:
FNA smears of hemorrhagic vitreous fluid showed numerous variably sized smooth glassy spherules ranging from 3-20 μm. Occasional red cells and a rare lymphocyte were observed, but other cell types were absent. Immunohistochemical staining of a cell block showed diffuse positive staining of spherules with haemoglobin A.
Conclusions:
HS is a rare lesion that occurs post-subretinal haemorrhage and may be encountered by pathologists examining ocular cytological specimens.
