Fine-needle aspiration findings in focal (nodular) myositis of a newborn: A case report

The occurrence of head and neck palpable lesions is not exceptional in pediatric population, encompassing a wide range of pathological entities.1, 2 In particular, the non‐neoplastic conditions occurring in soft tissues usually are self‐limiting and do not require a surgical approach. In these cases, the minimal invasive fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) cytology may suffice to exclude malignancy in a pediatric patient, overcoming the need for sedation or general anesthesia.3-6 Focal (nodular) myositis (FM) is an infrequent mass‐forming inflammatory lesion presenting as a solitary lump in a given skeletal muscle.7 This condition has rarely been reported in children, as only 6% of cases occurred in patients with <14 years of age.7, 8 In particular, FM has never been described in the perinatal period. Here, we report the first case of an infant with a solitary mass in the neck region diagnosed as FM on FNA.