Cutaneous manifestations of malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis

Our plain-English summary of Cutaneous manifestations of malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis, by H.J. van der Rhee, W.A. van Vloten, E. Scheffer, et al (Journal of Cutaneous Pathology, 1983).

The study

• Authors: H.J. van der Rhee, W.A. van Vloten, E. Scheffer, J. Zwartendijk
• Journal: Journal of Cutaneous Pathology
• Published: 1983;10(3):213-6
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 19 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

A rare case of cutaneous invasion of a malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis is described in an 86-year-old man. There was no anamnestic evidence of asbestos exposure.

PubMed has no abstract for this study. This is the authors' abstract, copied from the article.

In plain English

This case report, from the Departments of Dermatology, Pathology and Urology at University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands, described one 86-year-old man, a former cabinet worker, with malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis (the lining around the testis) that spread into the skin. The authors reported that he had never been exposed to asbestos and that no asbestos exposure could be traced. He came to the hospital because of a haematoscrotum (blood in the scrotum). After surgery, examination showed a papillary malignant mesothelioma that seemed to have been completely removed, and the testis and epididymis were free of tumour. One year later the tumour came back in the spermatic cord and the overlying skin. Under the microscope the skin tumour looked exactly like the original. Two years after the first operation, hardening and red raised bumps spread over the skin of the scrotum, penis, perineum and the area above the pubis. By three years it had become an ulcerating tumour mass. He died cachectic (severely wasted), and no autopsy was done. The authors stated that, to their knowledge, skin invasion by this tumour had been mentioned in the literature only once before.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (single patient)
• Who was studied: One 86-year-old man, a former cabinet worker, seen at the University Hospital of Leiden, The Netherlands, because of a haematoscrotum; no dates given
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure: the patient had never been exposed to asbestos, and no exposure could be traced
• Main results:
  • Examination of the first surgical specimen showed a papillary malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis, which seemed to have been completely removed
  • Tumour infiltration did not reach the testicular tissue, and the epididymis was also free of tumour
  • One year after the first operation, the tumour recurred in the left spermatic cord and the overlying skin, and a second operation was performed
  • In the skin specimen, the tumour tissue was exactly similar to the original tumour, it had not been completely removed, and tumour cells were seen invading lymph vessels
  • Two years after the first operation, progressive hardening of the scrotal skin spread to the penis and to the perineal and prepubic skin, with red confluent papules up to 5 mm in average diameter
  • No signs of spread through the lymph system or bloodstream could be detected
  • Three years after the first operation, the skin lesions had become an ulcerating tumour mass. The patient died cachectic and no autopsy was performed
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that, to their knowledge, skin invasion by malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis had been mentioned in the literature only once before (Kasdon 1969). They also stated that the present case met the diagnostic criteria of Japko et al. (1982)

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Mesothelioma, Tunica Vaginalis, Asbestos Exposure.

Related studies

• Cutaneous Metastases From Malignant Mesothelioma of the Tunica Vaginalis Testis — P. Hispán, J.C. Pascual, et al. (2016)
• Fine needle aspiration cytology in malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis — R. Gupta, P. Dey, et al. (2011)
• Malignant papillary mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testes: cutaneous metastases showing pagetoid epidermal invasion — L.E. Cartwright, H.K. Steinman (1987)
• Cutaneous recurrence of malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: a rare case report — P. Priester, J. Kopecký, et al. (2012)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis: a atypical presentation of a rare scrotal tumour — M.C. Harris, C. Logan, et al. (2019)
• Malignant mesothelioma of tunica vaginalis testis — G. Tyagi, C.S. Munn, et al. (1989)

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