Mesothelioma of the male genital tract in a patient with Maffucci's syndrome

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma of the male genital tract in a patient with Maffucci's syndrome, by M.L. Slaysman, R.E. McDonald, W.T. Gormley (Southern Medical Journal, 1982).

The study

• Authors: M.L. Slaysman, R.E. McDonald, W.T. Gormley
• Journal: Southern Medical Journal
• Published: 1982;75(8):1007-10
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 6 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article was a case report of one patient, a 20-year-old white man with Maffucci's syndrome, who was seen for swelling and pain in the scrotum, mostly on the right side. He had a large mass in the right scrotum and a smaller hard mass in the left. Surgeons removed a 13 cm right-sided mass along with the right testicle. It contained dead, liquid material that grew Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on culture. They later removed a 3 cm left-sided mass containing the left testicle. Under the microscope, the left mass showed papillary structures and sheets of mesothelial cells. Electron microscopy showed microvilli and desmosomes. The authors found no evidence of invasion and wrote that the features suggested a mesothelioma that would probably behave in a benign way. The patient received antibiotics and drainage procedures and did well after surgery. The authors described this as the first report of mesothelioma associated with Maffucci's syndrome. The article did not mention asbestos or any other exposure.

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 20-year-old white man with Maffucci's syndrome, seen on the urology service at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
• Exposure: None reported; the article does not mention asbestos or any other exposure
• Main results:
  • A 13 cm mass was removed from the right scrotum along with the right testicle (right radical orchiectomy)
  • Liquid material from the right-sided mass grew Staphylococcus aureus on culture
  • The left-sided mass showed papillary structures and sheets of mesothelial cells under the microscope
  • Electron microscopy of the left-sided mass showed microvilli, desmosomes and other features
  • The features suggested a mesothelioma expected by the authors probably to have a benign clinical course
  • The patient was treated with antibiotics and drainage procedures and did well after surgery
  • The authors stated this was the first reported case of mesothelioma associated with Maffucci's syndrome
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that mesothelioma should be added to the list of unusual mesenchymal tumors that can arise in association with Maffucci's syndrome

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.

Related studies

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• PAX8 and PAX2 immunostaining facilitates the diagnosis of primary epithelial neoplasms of the male genital tract — G.X. Tong, L. Memeo, et al. (2011)
• WT1 expression in the female genital tract — C. Bárcena, E. Oliva (2011)
• Mesothelioma of the female genital tract; review of the literature and report of five cases involving the uterus — R.C. Horn, G.C. Lewis (1951)
• Histogenesis and classification of mesonephric tumors of the female and male genital system and relationship to benign so-called adenomatoid tumors (mesotheliomas); a comparative histological study — G. Teilum (1954)
• Palliation of male genital cancers — C.J. Shukla, M. Shabbir, et al. (2010)

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