Morphologic patterns
The article deals with morphologic patterns in pathology. It is focused on light microscopy.
The big table of morphology
| Name of pattern | Meaning | DDx (incomplete/abbrev. list) | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hobnail | basement membrane area < area exposed to luminal surface | angiosarcoma, clear cell carcinoma |  Angiosarcoma - very high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Storiform | spiral appearance or cartwhell pattern[1] | solitary fibrous tumour, DFSP, dermatofibroma, UPS |  DFSP - very high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Fascicular | the long axis of the (spindle) cells are perpendicular to one another in adjacent bundles of cells | leiomyoma, leiomyosarcoma |  Leiomyosarcoma - very high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Plexiform | web-like formation[2] | plexiform neurofibroma, MPNST, plexiform lesion of pulmonary hypertension | plexiform lesion of Pulm. HTn (flickr.com) |
| Cribriform | pierced with small holes[3] | cribriform DCIS, cribriform HGPIN, cribriforming in a tubular adenoma with high-grade dysplasia, endometrioid endometrial carcinoma |  Cribriform architecure (ADH) - very high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Solid or Sheeting | no architecture - back-to-back cells with no pattern apparent / no spaces between cells | solid DCIS, poorly-differentiated malignancy (carcinoma, sarcoma, lymphoma) |  Sheeting in a Merkel cell carcinoma - high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Micropapillary | nipple like projections without a fibrovascular core (papillary = nipple-like[4]) | micropapillary DCIS, micropapillary HGPIN | |
| Papillary | nipple-like projection with a fibrovascular core | papillary thyroid carcinoma |  Papillary RCC - high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Flat | board-like, does not have a projection above the surface | flat DCIS | flat DCIS 1 (breastpathology.info),[5] flat DCIS 2 (breastpathology.info)[5] |
| Herring bone | like herring bone (technique) for climbing a hill in cross country skiing; books on a shelf, where they have partially fallen over -- on the one shelf to the left and the one below to the right | fibrosarcoma, synovial sarcoma, MPNST |  MPNST - high mag.(WC/Nephron) |
| Trabecular or cords | trabecula = little beam[6]; quasi-linear arrangement of cells | normal liver lobule, Sertoli cell tumour |  PTC tall cell variant - high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Nested (nesting) | islands of cells with a circular outline | neuroendocrine tumours |  Neuroendocrine tumour - low mag. (WC/Nephron) |
| Biphasic / multiple patterns | multiple patterns or cell types; e.g. spindle cells and epithelioid cells | synovial sarcoma, malignant melanoma, pleomorphic adenoma, angiomyolipoma, chondroid syringoma |  DSRCT - high mag. (WC/Nephron) |
Patterns
Hobnail pattern
- Basement membrane area < area exposed to luminal surface.
Some considerations
Lung:
Breast:
Gynecology:
Kidney:
- Collecting duct carcinoma.
- Acquired cystic disease-associated renal cell carcinoma.
- Tubulocystic renal cell carcinoma.
Other:
- Angiosarcoma.
- Endothelial cells in granulation tissue.
- Kimura disease.
See also
References
- ↑ Storiform. dictionary.com. URL: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/storiform. Accessed on: April 24, 2009.
- ↑ URL: http://www.mondofacto.com/facts/dictionary?plexiform. Accessed on: March 9, 2010.
- ↑ URL: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cribriform. Accessed on: 8 August 2011.
- ↑ URL: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/papillary. Accessed on: 8 August 2011.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 URL: http://www.breastpathology.info/Sloane/dcis.html. Accessed on: 8 August 2011.
- ↑ URL: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trabecula. Accessed on: 26 December 2010.