ABSTRACT
The first case of a placental tumor composed of benign hepatic tissue was published in 1986 and considered a placental benign hepatocellular adenoma. Since then, this lesion is better known as ectopic liver, and a total of 12 cases have been published. The ectopic liver located in the umbilical cord is an even rarer alteration, with only nine cases described to date. We report another case of ectopic liver, this time in an embryo of only five weeks of gestational age.
Subject(s)
Adenoma , Liver Diseases , Female , Humans , Liver , Placenta , Pregnancy , Umbilical CordABSTRACT
PURPOSE: We are conducting a prospective study trying to determine, in both sexes, the frequency of appearance of ectopic Leydig cells, their preferred location, their relationship with nerve structures and the possible causes of their appearance. METHODS: We have studied 86 cases that were removed according to different clinical indications for pathological study: uterine leyomiomas (n = 12), ovarian cystadenoma (n = 4), endometrial hyperplasia (n = 8), endometrial carcinoma (n = 12), cervical carcinoma (n = 4), seminoma (n = 4), fallopian tube ligatures (n = 24), vasectomies (n = 8), nonspecific orchiepididymitis (n = 2), and unknown (n = 8). RESULTS: We have observed ectopic Leydig cells in 13/86 cases (15.11%), 9/72 in the female samples (12.50%) and 4/14 in male samples (28.57%). The most frequent location was the mesosalpinx (4 of 13: 30.76%). CONCLUSIONS: These high figures lead us to believe that the ectopia of Leydig cells is not really a pathologic entity, but a finding related to specific functions yet to be determined.
