ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Myopericytoma: a unifying term for a spectrum of tumours that show overlapping features with myofibroma. A review of 14 cases

M S Dray¹, S W McCarthy¹, A A Palmer¹, S F Bonar², P D Stalley³, V Marjoniemi⁴, E Millar⁴, R A Scolyer¹

¹ Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
² Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology, Macquarie Park, NSW 2113, Australia
³ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
⁴ Department of Anatomical Pathology, South Eastern Area Laboratory Services (SEALS), St George Hospital, Kogarah, NSW 2217, Australia

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr R A Scolyer
Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Missenden Road, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia; richard.scolyer{at}email.cs.nsw.gov.au

Background: Myopericytoma (MPC) is a recently proposed term to describe a group of tumours that originate from perivascular myoid cells and show a range of histological growth patterns. Only a small number of series describing MPC have been reported. MPC is frequently misdiagnosed as a sarcoma.

Aims: To document the clinical and histopathological findings of a series of MPCs, to describe the range of growth patterns and morphological spectrum, and to compare MPC with myofibroma (MF).

Patients/Methods: Fourteen patients with features of MPC and/or MF were identified from the archival files of the department of anatomical pathology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

Results: There were six female and eight male patients. The mean and median patient ages were 37 and 35.5 years, respectively. The tumours were located in the skin, subcutis, or superficial soft tissues of the distal extremities (13 patients) or the head and neck region (one patient), and showed a spectrum of morphological appearances. They were divided into two groups based upon the predominant growth pattern corresponding to MPC (seven cases) and MF (seven cases). The feature most suggestive of MPC was the presence of a concentric perivascular arrangement of plump spindle shaped cells. The presence of a zonation/biphasic appearance was most characteristic of MF.

Conclusions: MPC exhibits a spectrum of growth patterns that overlap with MF. Tumours can be designated as MPC or MF depending on the predominant growth pattern.

Abbreviations: GPC, glomangiopericytoma; HPC, haemangiopericytoma; MF, myofibroma; MPC, myopericytoma; SMA, smooth muscle actin; WHO, World Health Organisation

Keywords: haemangiopericytoma; myofibroma; myopericytoma; perivascular myoma; soft tissue

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