Chondromyxoid fibroma of the temporal bone: A case report and review of the literature

Table 2 The differential diagnosis of tumours in the temporal bone

	Chondromyxoid fibroma	Myxoid chondrosarcoma	Chordoma	Facial nerve schwannoma
Pathological findings	Multilobular arrangement of stellate or spindle-shaped cells in an abundant myxoid background or chondroid intracellular material	Well-differentiated hyaline matrix; an absence of a fibrous component. The cells in chondrosarcoma are almost exclusively chondroblasts	Tumour cells are arranged in sheets or cords or float singly within an abundant myxoid stroma with an abundant pale vacuolated cytoplasm	Schwannoma is composed of spindle cells with wavy appearing nuclei. Areas of hypocellularity may alternate with areas of hypercellularity
Immunohistochemical findings	Positive staining for S-100 protein and vimentin	Positive staining for S-100 protein and vimentin	Positive staining for S-100 protein, pankeratin, low-molecular cytokeratins, and epithelial membrane antigen	Positive staining for S-100 protein
Radiographic findings	Well-defined tumours with sclerotic rims and scalloped margins; intratumoral calcification; low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images	Ill-defined tumours without sclerotic rims; an obviously infiltrative growth pattern and bone destruction; intratumoral calcification; low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images	Ill-defined tumours with obvious bone destruction; intratumoral calcification; low signal intensity on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images	Well-defined tumours without intratumoral calcification; isointensity to muscle on T1-weighted images and heterogeneous high signal intensity on T2-weighted images with well defined margins