title: The lining of branchial cysts studied by electron microscopy and enzyme histochemistry.
abstract: The lining of five branchial cysts from patients aged from 17 to 51 was studied by histochemical methods for non-specific acid esterase and acid phosphatase and by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The stratified squamous epithelium was shown to be a specialised structure, with a few microvillous cells on the surface and an intra-epithelial network of channels containing lymphocytes, notable T cells, and mononuclear phagocytic cells. The appearance of the cyst lining was similar to that of the epithelium lining the crypts of palatine tonsils. The demonstration of a complex lympho-epithelial lining of the cysts does not settle the controversial question of their origin, but it must be taken into account by hypotheses explaining the development of branchial cysts.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001935:Branchioma / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000201:enzymology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008875:Middle Aged