ABSTRACT
Three secondary human yolk sacs (SHYSs) showing heterotopic endodermal tubular structures of the gut-forming type were analyzed from a series of 180 SHYSs. These structures were similar to the early somatic endoderm involved in the formation of gut and lung. They may have arisen either as sequestrations in growth-disorganized embryos or as a phenomenon of differentiation from extraembryonal endoderm, which would indicate that extraembryonal tissues such as the SHYSs retain the capacity to differentiate somatic endoderm in developmentally altered embryos. It is possible that these structures may be the precursors of placental hepatic tissue and teratomas. Their morphologic resemblance to similar structures found in glandular, polyvesicular, and intestinal human yolk sac tumors provides yet another example of the similarity between SHYSs and yolk sac tumors.
Subject(s)
Endoderm/pathology , Mesonephroma/pathology , Ovarian Neoplasms/pathology , Yolk Sac/pathology , Abortion, Spontaneous , Adult , Cell Transformation, Neoplastic/pathology , Digestive System/embryology , Female , Humans , Lung/embryology , Mesonephroma/etiology , Ovarian Neoplasms/etiology , PregnancyABSTRACT
Fatty change of the endometrial stroma is reported for the first time in the literature. This incidental finding further exemplifies the capacity of the endometrial stroma to undergo benign mesenchymal metaplasia.
