Uteruslike mass of the ovary: endomyometriosis or congenital malformation? A case with a discussion of histogenesis.
We describe an 18-year-old woman with a mass in the region of the right ovary. The mass, which had a central cavity lined by endometrium and surrounded by smooth muscle, extraordinarily resembled a uterus. Review of the literature disclosed only one such case in which this change was considered to arise from endomyometriosis of the ovary, a phenomenon characterized by smooth-muscle metaplasia in a focus of endometriosis. Although this possibility is interesting and plausible, we believe that a congenital malformation, possibly caused by a defect in fusion of müllerian ducts, should strongly be considered in explaining the pathogenesis of this kind of lesion.
D000015:Abnormalities, Multiple / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008679:Metaplasia; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000473:pathology; D009215:Myometrium / Q000473:pathology; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D014551:Urinary Tract / Q000002:abnormalities; D014599:Uterus / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology