Lipoblastoma presenting as a rapidly growing paravertebral mass and masquerading as myxoid liposarcoma on fine needle aspiration cytology

Lipoblastoma is a peculiar variant of lipoma occurring almost exclusively during infancy and early childhood. It is found most commonly in the upper and lower extremities; less common sites are head and neck, trunk, mediastinum, and retroperitoneum. It has a greater predilection for boys and commonly presents as a slowly growing soft-tissue mass. We present here the case of a five- year old female child with a lipoblastoma presenting as a paravertebral mass in the right lower back which progressed rapidly in the previous six months causing diagnostic difficulty on fine needle aspiration cytology. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2016;44:426-429. (c) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.