Low power: DQ stain
Cellular smear showing hepatocytes in aggregates and small clusters
Low power: Pap stain
Cellular smear showing hepatocytes in aggregates and small clusters
Note absence of bile duct cells
High power: Pap stain
Hepatocytes in trabecular arrangements with small round nuclei, prominent nucleoli and abundant granular cytoplasm
Note absence of bile duct cells
Features
• Cellular smears
• Hepatocytes only (no bile duct cells)
• Cells in trabecular arrangement 2-3 cells thick
• Hepatocytes bland and uniform
• Cytoplasm granular or vacuolated
• Nuclei round and regular
• Small nucleoli
• No mitosis or necrosis
• No bile duct cells
• Diagnosis is made in conjunction with the clinical and radiological findings of a liver mass with a partial capsule and no central scar, frequently solitary, in a non-cirrhotic liver. Differential diagnosis includes focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) which presents as non-capsulated solitary mass with a central scar in a non-cirrhotic liver. Aspirates of FNH are similar to liver adenomas, except show both hepatocytes and bile duct cells.
Tao LC.Cancer. 1991 Jul 15;68(2):341-7.
Ferrell L. Mod Pathol. 2000 Jun;13(6):679-704.