Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis of the testis

Our plain-English summary of Mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis of the testis, by J.G. Noble, A. Watkins, M.E. Chappell, et al (British Journal of Urology, 1992).

The study

• Authors: J.G. Noble, A. Watkins, M.E. Chappell, A.D. Heath
• Journal: British Journal of Urology
• Published: 1992;70(3):328-9
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 10 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Summary of the article

This case report from the Departments of Surgery and Histopathology at Southend General Hospital, Southend on Sea, England, described malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis of the testis. A 62-year-old man presented with a 3-month history of a painless swelling on the left side of the scrotum. He had had surgery for a left-sided hydrocele 9 years earlier. Clinical examination and ultrasound showed a hydrocele with a normal-feeling testis. At operation through a scrotal incision, the tunica vaginalis was thickened, with multiple papillary nodules on its parietal surface. An area was removed for histology and the hydrocele was excised. Microscopy showed a cellular papillary lesion with nuclear pleomorphism, frequent mitoses and little stroma, characteristic of malignant mesothelioma. Immunoperoxidase staining for prostatic specific antigen and other carcinoma markers was negative. The patient then underwent left orchiectomy through an inguinal approach, with wide excision of the left hemiscrotum. The authors noted that tumours of the tunica vaginalis are very rare, that peak presentation is in the seventh decade, and that a hydrocele is the most common presenting feature, which makes diagnosis before surgery difficult. They concluded that all patients presenting with a hydrocele need careful evaluation so that this potentially serious condition can be treated without delay. The report did not mention asbestos exposure.

PubMed has no abstract for this study, and the article doesn't print one. We wrote this summary from the full article with the help of AI. It is not the authors' wording.

In plain English

This case report described one patient with malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis, the membrane lining around the testis. The authors were from the Departments of Surgery and Histopathology at Southend General Hospital. A 62-year-old man came in with a painless swelling on the left side of the scrotum that had been present for 3 months. He had had surgery for a left-sided hydrocele (a fluid collection around the testis) 9 years earlier. Examination and an ultrasound scan showed a hydrocele with a normal-feeling testis. At operation the tunica vaginalis was thickened, with multiple papillary nodules on its parietal surface. Under the microscope the tissue looked characteristic of a malignant mesothelioma, and staining for prostate-specific antigen and other carcinoma markers was negative. He then had his left testis removed through the groin, along with a wide excision of the left side of the scrotum. The article does not mention asbestos or any other exposure, and it does not report how the patient fared afterwards. The authors concluded that the case shows the need to evaluate carefully every patient who presents with a hydrocele.

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 62-year-old man with a painless left-sided scrotal swelling, reported by authors from Southend General Hospital; no dates given
• Exposure: Not reported. The article does not mention asbestos or any other exposure.
• Main results:
  • The patient had had surgery for a left-sided hydrocele 9 years before this presentation
  • At surgery the tunica vaginalis was thickened, with multiple papillary nodules on its parietal surface
  • Microscopy showed a lesion characteristic of a malignant mesothelioma
  • Staining for prostate-specific antigen and other carcinoma markers was negative
  • The patient then underwent a left orchiectomy through an inguinal approach, with wide excision of the left hemiscrotum; no follow-up outcome was reported
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that this case emphasises the need for careful evaluation of all patients presenting with a hydrocele, so that this potentially serious condition can be treated without delay

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, Histopathology, Hydrocele, Ultrasound, Histology, Nuclear Pleomorphism, Carcinoma.

Related studies

• Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: report of first case with preoperative diagnosis — L. Japko, A.A. Horta, et al. (1982)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis — K. Antman, S. Cohen, et al. (1984)
• Epidemiology of mesothelioma of the pericardium and tunica vaginalis testis — G. Mezei, E.T. Chang, et al. (2017)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: diagnostic studies and differential diagnosis — S.S. Chekol, C.C. Sun (2012)
• Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: a rare case and review of literature — M. Drevinskaite, A. Patasius, et al. (2020)
• Malignant mesothelioma of tunica vaginalis testis — G. Tyagi, C.S. Munn, et al. (1989)

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