Rapidly growing mass of the anterior maxillary gingiva

Three atypical manifestations of granulomatosis with polyangiitis: lateral medullary syndrome, anterior cheek mass and melting scleritis of eye

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA, formerly Wegener granulomatosis) is a vasculitis with various organ involvement. There have been a few cases of CNS stroke and rare cases of lateral medullary infarction (LMI) as a manifestation of GPA. Also there have been reports of sinuses, nose and laryngeal masses mistakenly referred as carcinomas and subsequently GPA was diagnosed in their pathological reports. Another severe fulminant manifestation can be necrotizing scleritis leading to perforation of sclera. Therefore, here we present some rare and fulminant manifestations of GPA in 3 separate cases for further emphasis of the unusual manifestations of GPA that should always be kept in mind.

Clinicopathological and immunohistochemical features of oral spindle cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Oral spindle cell carcinoma (SpCC) is a rare variant of oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The aims of this study were to compare the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features of oral SpCC with conventional oral SCC.

METHODS

Five cases of oral SpCC and 10 cases of oral SCC (five well-differentiated and five poorly differentiated) were evaluated through conventional hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical reactions to cytokeratins (CK), vimentin, desmin, smooth muscle actin, muscle-specific actin, S-100 protein, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), p53, and ki-67.

RESULTS

Oral SpCC showed predilection for males on their sixth decade of life, presenting clinically as painful infiltrative ulcers or ulcerated exophytic polypoid masses, preferably located on the alveolar mucosa. Mesenchymal markers were expressed in the spindle cell but not in the carcinomatous component of SpCC, and it was negative in all SCC. CKs AE1/AE3, 6, 14, and EMA were positive on both carcinomatous and spindle cell components of most SpCCs. These tumors also presented higher p53 and ki-67 expression and no CK 1 expression in contrast to well-differentiated SCC.

CONCLUSION

Oral SpCC presented a different clinical profile than conventional SCC and histopathologic features and p53 and ki-67 expression closer to poorly differentiated SCC. Besides mesenchymal markers, CK AE1/AE3, 6, 14, and EMA expression on spindle cells may be useful as an adjunct on microscopical differential diagnosis of SpCC.