Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ragazzi, Moira, MD
• Carbonara, Carolina, MD
• Rosai, Juan, MD

Titel

Nonneoplastic signet-ring cells in the gallbladder and uterine cervix. A potential source of overdiagnosis

Ist Teil von

• Human pathology, 2009-03, Vol.40 (3), p.326-331

Ort / Verlag

New York, NY: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2009

Quelle

Access via ScienceDirect (Elsevier)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Summary We describe 3 cases of nonneoplastic signet-ring cell change in ulcerated mucosa, 2 of them in the gallbladder and 1 in an endocervical polyp. In the gallbladder cases, there were focal collections of signet-ring cells both on the mucosal surface and within the lumen of tubules, whereas in the endocervical polyp, the signet-ring cell aggregates were entirely confined to the mucosal surface. In all 3 cases, the signet-ring cells were positive for Mayer's mucicarmine and immunoreactive for keratin AE1/AE3. The lack of nuclear atypicality, the arrangement in superficial and intraluminal nests, and the admixture with histiocytes and other inflammatory cells are in keeping with the interpretation that the signet-ring cells are disrupted mucosal goblet cells exhibiting hyperplastic and degenerative changes. A review of the literature disclosed only other 2 previously reported cases of benign signet-ring cell changes in the gallbladder and none—to the best of our knowledge—in an endocervical polyp. Awareness of this phenomenon is of importance to avoid a potential overdiagnosis of signet-ring cell adenocarcinoma.