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solitary epithelioid histiocytoma

Reticulohistiocytoma and multicentric reticulohistiocytosis are designations for uncommon, incompletely characterized histiocytic proliferations of the skin or soft tissues. There is a uniform group of 44 lesions composed of epithelioid histiocytes, comprising a subset of lesions originally designated as reticulohistiocytoma, and the term "solitary epithelioid histiocytoma" (SEH) have been proposed.

SYnopsis

- median age : 35 years (range, 2.5-74 years)
- superficial, circumscribed, mildly elevated, solitary lesion (size range, 1.5-11 mm; median, 4 mm), located in the trunk wall (n = 16), lower extremity (n = 12), head and neck (n = 8, including 2 in the oral cavity), upper extremity (n = 6), penis (n = 1), and an unspecified site (n = 1).
- upper and mid-dermis
- large epithelioid histiocytes with a varying number of lymphocytes and neutrophils. The histiocytes had abundant, typically densely eosinophilic, cytoplasm and mostly mild, if any, nuclear atypia.
- Multinucleated forms with randomly oriented nuclei
- The histiocytes have low mitotic activity (range, 0-4 mitoses per 10 wide HPFs; median, 1 mitosis per 10 HPFs).
- The lesions contain varying numbers of CD3-positive T cells, whereas B lymphocytes, plasma cells, eosinophils, and mast cells were scant, if present at all.

Immunohistochemistry

- Epithelioid histiocytes were positive for CD163, CD68, lysozyme (variably), and vimentin.
- They often had focal nuclear immunoreactivity for microphthalmia transcription factor, and they sometimes had focal reactivity for Factor XIIIa and S-100 protein.
- Membrane positivity for CD31, CD43, and CD45 is variable.
- The epithelioid histiocytes are consistently negative for CD3, CD20, CD30, HMB45, and keratins.

SEH is a benign, probably reactive, histiocytic proliferation of unknown etiology.

Differential diagnosis

- Rosai-Dorfman disease
- juvenile xanthogranuloma
- granulomatous conditions
- malignant neoplasms

  • histiocytic sarcoma
  • melanoma
  • epithelioid sarcoma.

References

- Miettinen M, Fetsch JF. Reticulohistiocytoma (solitary epithelioid histiocytoma): a clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of 44 cases.Am J Surg Pathol. 2006 Apr;30(4):521-8. PMID: #16625100#