Juxtaglomerular cell tumor

We report the cytopathologic, immunocytochemical, histopathologic, and electron microscopic findings of a juxtaglomerular cell tumor that developed in a hypertensive 25-year-old Japanese woman. The symptoms of her disease disappeared after the tumor was resected. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of this rare tumor, which was diagnosed after imprint cytology of the resected tumor. The clinical diagnosis was made before surgery based on the high level of plasma renin activity. Imprint cytology showed knob-like formations of neoplastic cells that exhibited a positive reaction to human renin antigen. Histologic and electron microscopic examination revealed the typical features of juxtaglomerular cell tumor as well as the tubular components that are believed to originate in the distal urinary tubules.