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Table 1 Histology and immunostaining in differential diagnosis of tumors

From: Prolactin-producing pituitary adenoma with atypical spindle cell morphology: a case report

Staining

Case presentation

Pituitary adenoma

Pituicytoma

Paraganglioma

Spindle cell oncocytoma

Meningioma

Granular cell tumor

Histology

See text and Fig. 2

Monotonous arrays of chromophobic cells in diffuse, papillary, or sinusoidal proliferation

Variably lobulated sheets of cells with copious cytoplasm and round, uniform nuclei with small nucleoli

Nested pattern (Zellballen configuration) and rimmed by sustentacular cells

Eosinophilic spindle-shaped or polygonal cells with granular cytoplasm (abundant mitochondria)

Spindle or polygonal cells with large oval nuclei and indistinct cell borders

Abundant granular eosinophilic cytoplasm with round monomorphic nuclei

Pituitary hormones

±

±

Cytokeratin

±

5 %

EMA

>50 %

+

+

S-100 protein

+

+

+

20 %

+

Vimentin

±

+

+

+

GFAP

+

±

±

Synaptophysin

+

+

+

Chromogranin-A

+

90 %

95 %

  1. EMA epithelial membrane antigen, GFAP glial fibrillary acidic protein