Myometrial hyperplasia in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult uteri.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate if myometrial hyperplasia is a congenital variation in myometrial differentiation, or an acquired structural disorder of the myometrium, this study evaluated whether myometrial hyperplasia was present in uteri of children, adolescents, and young adults.


METHODS
We studied 19 pediatric/young adult uteri in cases with no clinical history of uterine disease. Random photomicrographs at 100x, taken at 1, 5, and 10 mm beneath the endometrium, were assessed for increased cellularity and nucleus/cell ratio, as compared to normal myometrium in the outer third of the same uterus.


RESULTS
Myometrial hyperplasia was generally absent in prepubertal uteri, first appeared in adolescent uteri just beneath the endometrium, and was found at 5 mm depth only after age 18. It decreased with depth beneath the endometrium (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Myometrial hyperplasia is not a congenital anatomic variation in myometrial differentiation, but rather an age-related acquired structural variation. Its relationship to common adolescent symptoms of dysmenorrhea and anovulatory bleeding remains unknown and unexplored.
Department of Pathology, Rochester General Hospital, University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, New York 14621, USA. stewart.cramer@viahealth.org
Stewart F
SF
Cramer
Aasim I
AI
Padela
Carol E
CE
Marchetti
Patricia M
PM
Newcomb
Debra S
DS
Heller
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D007223:Infant; D009215:Myometrium / Q000473:pathology*; D010784:Photomicrography; D014591:Uterine Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology