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Table of Contents
Definition / general | Uses by pathologists | Diagrams / tables | Microscopic (histologic) images | Positive staining - normal | Positive staining - disease | Negative stainingCite this page: Pernick N. Desmin. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/stainsdesmin.html. Accessed May 26th, 2019.
Definition / general
- 53 kDa intermediate filament first described in 1976 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1976;73:4344), present near the Z line in sarcomeres, present in cardiac, smooth and striated muscle (Wikipedia)
- Expressed before actin in myoblasts
- Variable expression in myofibroblasts
Uses by pathologists
- Common stain used in panels for mesenchymal markers
- Confirms myogenic origin of tissue / tumors
- Helps differentiate smooth muscle tumors (desmin+) from GIST (c-kit+, almost always desmin-)
- In serous effusion, more common in reactive mesothelial cells (84%) than mesothelioma (8%) or carcinoma (2%, Am J Surg Pathol 2001;25:1405)
Diagrams / tables
Images hosted on other servers:
Molecular architecture
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on PathOut server:
Hear, leiomyosarcoma
Heart, rhabdomyosarcoma
Kidney, angiomyolipoma
Nasal cavity, angioleiomyoma
Pancreas, desmoplastic small RCT
Soft tissue, embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma, cross striations (L), rhabdoid cells (M), spindle cells (R)
Testis, spindle cell variant
Thyroid, rhabdomyoma
Vulva, aggressive angiomyxoma
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Adrenal gland
Breast, spindle cell lipoma
Heart, rhabdomyosarcoma
Hepatorenal
embryonal
rhabdomyosarcoma
Kidney, leiomyosarcoma
Kidney, mixed epithelial stromal tumor
Skin, angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma
Small bowel
Positive staining - normal
- Cervix: decidual reaction, endometrium (focal), fallopian tube stroma
- Liver: stellate cells
- Mesothelial cells (reactive), myoblasts, myofibroblasts (variable), myometrium, smooth muscle cells
Positive staining - disease
- Adenosarcoma (cervix, prostate, stomach), aggressive angiomyxoma, alveolar soft parts sarcoma (cervix)
- Anaplastic sarcoma, kidney (usually), angioleiomyoma (Hum Pathol 2007;38:645)
- Angiomatoid fibrous histiocytoma (Mod Pathol 2011;24:1560), angiomyofibroblastoma, angiomyolipoma (smooth muscle cells)
- Atypical fibroxanthoma of skin (30%), atypical polypoid adenomyoma of uterus (variable)
- Benign stromal spindle cell tumors (breast)
- Chondrosarcoma, dedifferentiated
- Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (dot-like perinuclear pattern)
- Endometrial stromal sarcoma (50%), endometriosis (associated with desmin+ skeletal muscle regeneration, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:10), epithelioid sarcoma (proximal type has variable staining)
- Fibroblastic reticulum cell tumor, fibroepithelial polyp, fibromatosis (usually negative, but may be focal), fibrous hamartoma of infancy (spindle cell areas), fibrous histiocytoma of skin, variable
- Giant cell tumor of tendon sheath-localized type, granulosa cell tumor (variable)
- Hemangiopericytoma (20% in CNS)
- Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (variable, Hum Pathol 2008;39:846, epithelioid tumors are usually positive, Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:135), ischemic fasciitis
- Leiomyoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2001;25:455) and leiomyosarcoma (staining associated with more differentiated tumors, Hum Pathol 2010;41:663)
- Low grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (variable), lymphangioleiomyomatosis, lymphangiomyoma
- Malignant fibrous histiocytoma, malignant mixed Müllerian tumor (cervix-sarcomatous component), medullomyoblastoma, mesenchymal hamartoma
- Mixed epithelial and stromal tumor of kidney (stroma), mycobacterial spindle cell pseudotumor in lymph nodes
- Myofibroblastoma (variable, Hum Pathol 2012;43:243), myofibrosarcoma, myogenic sarcoma, myoid gonadal stromal tumor (Hum Pathol 2012;43:144)
- Neuroblastoma, neuromuscular hamartoma of soft tissue
- Ossifying fibromyxoid tumor (38%, Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:1615), osteosarcoma (variable)
- Paratesticular fibrous pseudotumor (31%, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:569), perivascular epithelioid cell tumors (sclerosing PEComa has diffuse staining, abdominopelvic sarcoma and tumors of falciform ligament / ligamentum teres are negative, other sites are predominantly negative)
- Phyllodes tumor of breast (stroma), PNET (variable), prostatic stromal hyperplasia with atypia (moderate staining, Arch Pathol Lab Med 2008;132:1729)
- Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) of breast (variable), pseudosarcomatous fibroepithelial stromal polyp (cervix, vagina)
- Reactive nodular fibrous pseudotumor (variable), rhabdomyoma, rhabdomyosarcoma (in more differentiated cells)
- Sclerosing stromal tumor (ovary), smooth muscle tumor of pleura, spindle cell carcinoma (variable)
- Spindle cell epithelioma of vagina, stromal sarcoma of prostate (variable), superficial cervicovaginal myofibroblastoma
- Uterine tumors resembling ovarian sex cord tumor (Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:1749)
Negative staining
- Angiofibroma (positive in 11%, Am J Surg Pathol 2012;36:500)
- Calcifying fibrous tumor (Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:271), carcinomas (usually), chondromyxoid fibroma, chondrosarcoma, mesenchymal
- Choriocarcinoma, clear cell sarcoma
- Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans, desmoplastic fibroblastoma
- Ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumor, elastofibroma
- Fibroma, fibrosarcoma, follicular dendritic cell sarcoma
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (epithelioid tumors may have focal staining), GANT
- Giant cell fibroblastoma, glomus coccygeum, granular cell tumor
- Hemosiderotic fibrohistiocytic lipomatous lesion
- Inflammatory fibroid polyp, interdigitating dendritic cell tumor, intranodal palisaded myofibroblastoma
- Histiocytic sarcoma
- Lipoma (pleomorphic, spindle cell), liposarcoma (but dedifferentiated tumors may be desmin+, Am J Surg Pathol 2010;34:844), lipomatous hemangiopericytoma
- Low grade fibromyxoid sarcoma, lymphoma
- Mesothelioma (Mod Pathol 2012;25:689), metanephric adenoma / adenofibroma of kidney
- Myoepithelioma, myofibroma, myopericytoma (rarely focal staining, Am J Surg Pathol 2009;33:1666), mxyoma
- Neural tumors (chordoid glioma, neuroblastoma, neurofibroma, perineurioma, schwannoma)
- Nodular fasciitis, nuchal fibrocartilaginous pseudotumor, nuchal type fibroma
- Osteosarcoma
- Pancreatic serous cystadenoma, pigmented villonodular synovitis, plexiform fibromyxoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2009;33:1624)
- Postoperative spindle cell nodule (bladder), proliferative fasciitis / myositis, pseudomyogenic hemangioendothelioma (Am J Surg Pathol 2011;35:190), pseudosarcomatous fibromyxoid tumor of prostate
- Rhabdoid tumor of heart
- Sialadenoma papilliferum, solitary fibrous tumor
- Superficial acral fibromyxoma / digital fibromyxoma (rare focal staining, Am J Surg Pathol 2012;36:789), synovial sarcoma
- Vascular tumors (angiosarcoma, glomangioma, glomus tumor, hemangiopericytoma outside CNS, Kaposi's sarcoma)
- Warthin tumor
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