[The presence of epithelioid glomus structures in the lymph nodes of excised mammary carcinomas (author's transl)].

A report is presented on the demonstration of epithelioid cell clusters within the axillary lymph node group, which - in the absence of knowledge of their structural peculiarities--could be taken for micrometastases of a solid mammary carcinoma. The lymph node material from 400 extensively excised mammary carcinomas with obligatory lymphonodectomy was available for this study. Microscopic inspection of successive sections at intervals of 100 mu was performed following fixation and optical demonstration of all lymph nodes in a picric acid medium. This procedure led to the discovery of epithelioid cell clusters in 18 out of the 400 cases examined. As regards their appearance, with direct allocation to the local vascular stroma, these clusters must be regarded as glomus-like structures. In no case could metastases of a mammary carcinoma and the epithelioid cell foci mentioned here be demonstrated either next to each other or combined. In appearance they are remarkably similar to the already known glomus structures of other sites. The presence of such structure in lymph nodes is most likely attributable to micromorphous malformation of vessels in the sense of hamartia. From a clinical point of view, their fundamental significance consists in the necessary differentialdiagnostic demarcation against metastase of solid carcinoma in the region of origin of the lymph.