Low Power; DQ stain
Colloid like (spider web-like) artifact in proteinaceous fluid. Single fragment of benign ductal cells.
High power: DQ stain
Fragment of apocrine cells with central nuclei, abundant bright blue cytoplasm
Scattered, single histiocytes with foamy cytoplasm
Low Power; Pap stain
Abundant proteinaceous background fluid, low cellularity
High Power; Pap stain
Single fragment of apocrine cells
Note the abundant two-toned granular cytoplasm and single to rare double round uniform nuclei
Background proteinaceous fluid
High power: Pap Stain
Fragment of apocrine cells with prominent nucleoli and abundant granular cytoplasm
High Power: Pap stain
Histiocytes in a proteinaceous background
Features
• Hypocellular specimen
• Cohesive fragments
• Flat sheets of ductal epithelium
• Association of ductal epithelial cells with myoepithelial cells
• May have predominant apocrine metaplasia
• Apocrine cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm
• Evenly spaced (honey-comb) nuclei
• Ductal and apocrine cell nuclei: round and regular
• Myoepithelial cell nuclei: Small, hyperchromatic (sesame-seed like)
• No pleomorphism
• Nucleoli: Absent in ductal and myoepithelial cells, small in apocrine cells
• Abundant proteinaceous material
• Foamy histiocytes
• Necrosis, Apoptosis, Mitoses absent
Maygarden et al. Acta Cytol. 1994 Mar-Apr;38(2):115-29.