ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Non-neoplastic granulosa cells within ovarian vascular channels: a rare potential diagnostic pitfall

W G McCluggage¹, R H Young²

¹ Department of Pathology, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust, Belfast
² James Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr W G McCluggage
Department of Pathology, Royal Group of Hospitals Trust, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BL, Northern Ireland, UK: glenn.mccluggage{at}bll.n-i.nhs.uk

Aims: To describe six cases seen in consultation in which artefactual vascular involvement within the ovary by benign granulosa cells caused diagnostic confusion.

Methods/Results: In five cases, the initial favoured diagnoses of the submitting pathologists were metastatic carcinoma (three cases) and immature neural elements within a teratoma (two cases). In two cases, the ovary contained a benign cystic teratoma (one with struma ovarii), in two cases endometriosis, in one case follicular cysts, and in the other no pathological lesion was present. In all cases, several small ovarian vascular channels contained cohesive groups of cells with mildly atypical nuclei and cytoplasm, which varied from scant to abundant and eosinophilic. In four cases, mitotic figures were identified. The cells were morphologically consistent with benign granulosa cells and were associated in four cases with a nearby follicle lined by similar cells. There was no evidence of a mass lesion, grossly or histologically, to suggest a granulosa cell tumour. The nature of the cells was confirmed using immunohistochemistry for inhibin and calretinin in one case.

Conclusions: This phenomenon is probably an artefact secondary to surgical trauma or sectioning within the laboratory; alternatively, it could be related to ovulation. It is important that this benign process is not misinterpreted as cancer, either primary or metastatic, which may prompt inappropriate treatment or investigations that are not needed.

Keywords: ovary; granulosa cells; vascular invasion; immunohistochemistry

Abbreviations: EMA, epithelial membrane antigen; LCA, leucocyte common antigen

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Clarke, B, McCluggage, W G (2009). Iatrogenic lesions and artefacts in gynaecological pathology. J. Clin. Pathol. 62: 104-112 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vydianath, B, Ganesan, R, McCluggage, W G (2008). Displaced granulosa cells in the fallopian tube mimicking small cell carcinoma. J. Clin. Pathol. 61: 1323-1325 [Abstract] [Full Text]