Aspiration biopsy cytology of tumoral calcinosis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Tumoral calcinosis (TC) is a rare inherited disorder leading to the formation of periarticular calcified masses. Aspiration cytology of this condition has been rarely reported. We describe the aspiration cytology findings of a recent case of TC and discuss possible differential diagnoses. CASE: This is a case of a 35-year-old African-American man who presented with a right posterior chest/shoulder mass. The patient had a history of resection of right shoulder (1996) and left neck (2007) masses histologically diagnosed as TC. He recently also had a right-side neck mass that, surprisingly, was found to be extraabdominal desmoid fibromatosis on histologic examination. CONCLUSION: Inherited idiopathic TC is a rare disease commonly presenting as a periarticular mass, which may be subjected to aspiration biopsy. Awareness of this distinct entity and the aspiration cytologic features helps avoid incorrect interpretation.