title: Vaginitis emphysematosa.
abstract: Vaginitis emphysematosa is rare, as only 173 cases, to our knowledge, have been reported in the English literature, the last in 1967. We report three new cases and bring the subject up to date. The ages of our patients ranged from 42 to 65 years; one patient complained of vaginal discharge, and the other two cases were found on routine examination, one at autopsy for breast carcinomatosis. The lesions were described as nodules in the vagina, on occasion producing a "popping sound" that relieved the pressure sensation. Microscopically, variably sized cysts were seen containing pink hyalinlike material and foreign body-type giant cells in the cyst's wall, accompanied by minimal chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate. Vaginitis emphysematosa is an uncommon self-healing disease of unknown cause that produces no sequelae deleterious to the patient.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003560:Cysts / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014621:Vagina / Q000473:pathology*; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D014627:Vaginitis / Q000473:pathology*