Free-floating intra-peritoneal mesothelial cyst with histologic properties of amniotic epithelium in term pregnancy: Report of two cases

Our plain-English summary of Free-floating intra-peritoneal mesothelial cyst with histologic properties of amniotic epithelium in term pregnancy: Report of two cases, by K.P. Tsui, H.J. Tsai, S.H. Huang (Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2016).

The study

• Authors: K.P. Tsui, H.J. Tsai, S.H. Huang
• Journal: Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Published: 2016;36(3):376-7
• Type of article: Case report
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This case report described two women at Kuang Tien General Hospital in Taiwan in whom a loose, free-floating cyst was found unexpectedly in the abdomen during planned caesarean deliveries at full term. The first woman was 28, in her first pregnancy, and had pre-eclampsia. Surgeons found a cord-like structure with two small cysts attached to soft, jelly-like cystic tissue. Under the microscope the cyst wall had three layers (mesothelium, mesenchyme and epithelium), no blood vessels, and no villi or fetal tissue. It resembled amniotic membrane with metaplastic change. Stains for calretinin, cytokeratin and vimentin were positive. The second woman was 24, in her first pregnancy, and had mild anaemia. Her cyst, with dimensions printed as 5.2, 5.0 and 0.5 cm, looked similar under the microscope. The authors thought the link with pre-eclampsia was possibly by chance, and that such a simple cyst should be much more benign than mesothelioma. They concluded that these cysts can occur in late pregnancy and should be considered when cystic lesions are found then. The article does not mention asbestos.

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 (two cases)
• Who was studied: Two Taiwanese women in their first pregnancy who had elective caesarean deliveries at term at Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taiwan. One was 28 years old at 38 weeks, the other 24 years old at 39 weeks.
• Exposure: No asbestos or other exposure was studied. The article does not mention asbestos.
• Main results:
  • Case 1 (28-year-old with pre-eclampsia): a cord-like structure with 2 small cysts connected to soft, free-floating, jelly-like cystic tissue was found in the anterior cul-de-sac during caesarean delivery.
  • Case 1: the cyst wall had three layers (mesothelium, mesenchyme and epithelium) without vessels. There were no villi and no fetal tissue. The features were similar to amniotic membrane with metaplastic change.
  • Case 1 staining: calretinin, cytokeratin and vimentin were positive. hCG was equivocal. PLAP and CD31 were negative.
  • Case 2 (24-year-old with mild anaemia): a similar soft free-floating cyst, with dimensions printed as 5.2, 5.0 and 0.5 cm, was found in the anterior cul-de-sac. Its histologic features were also similar to amniotic membrane with metaplastic change.
  • Case 2 staining: beta-hCG, PLAP and CD31 were negative. The results for calretinin, CK and vimentin are not legible in the text.
  • The authors considered the association with pre-eclampsia possibly due to chance.
  • The authors stated that the free-floating simple cyst should be much more benign than mesothelioma.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors suggested that a free-floating intra-peritoneal mesothelial cyst with histological properties of amniotic epithelium can occur in late pregnancy, and should be a differential diagnosis for cystic lesions identified in late pregnancy.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Epithelium.

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