CNS & pituitary tumors
Cysts
Endodermal cysts
Author: Eman Abdelzaher, M.D., Ph.D.
Last author update: 1 February 2012
Last staff update: 23 December 2024
Copyright: 2002-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Endodermal (enterogenous) cyst
Cite this page: Abdelzaher E. Endodermal cysts. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/cnstumorendodermalcysts.html. Accessed December 25th, 2024.
Colloid cyst
- See Colloid cyst
Enterogenous cyst
Definition / general
Terminology
Sites
Radiology description
Case reports
Treatment
Gross description
Microscopic (histologic) description
Positive stains
Negative stains
Electron microscopy description
Differential diagnosis
- Cyst lined by simple columnar epithelium (with or without cilia or mucus globules)
- Rare, benign; probably of malformative nature
Terminology
- Also called neurenteric, enteric, enterogenic, bronchogenic, respiratory cyst
Sites
- Usually intraspinal, rarely intracranial
- Favored sites: posterior fossa and spinal cord (usually anterior to cord, intradural, extramedullary)
- All ages are affected: infants, children and adults
Radiology description
- Like the closely related Rathke cleft cyst and colloid cyst, cyst is often bright on precontrast images
Case reports
- Prenatally diagnosed large intracranial cyst (J Neurosurg 2007;106:506)
- 35 year old woman with intramedullary cyst of spinal cord during pregnancy (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001;71:528)
- 43 year old man with cystic mass at cerebellopontine angle (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2003;127:e45)
- 78 year old man with cyst in front of medulla (AJNR Am J Neuroradiology 2001;22:496)
Treatment
- Complete excision; occasionally is adherent to adjacent structures
- Recurrence may occur
Gross description
- Usually 1 cm or less, simple, thin walled, filled with opalescent mucinous material
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Columnar epithelium resting on collagen layer
- Goblet cells often present
- Variable cilia, may have squamous metaplasia
- More complex lesions replicate gastrointestinal or respiratory epithelium (Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 2004;12:230)
Positive stains
Negative stains
Electron microscopy description
- Well developed stereocilia, distinct basal cells, thin basement membrane
Differential diagnosis
- Choroid plexus cyst:
- Positive for vimentin, S100, synaptophysin, transthyretin
- Colloid cyst:
- In third ventricle
- Cystic tumors
- Glioependymal cyst:
- Papillary endolymphatic sac tumor:
- At cerebellopontine angle, arises within bone, more complex architecture
Rathke cleft cyst
Definition / general
Gross description
Microscopic (histologic) description
Positive stains
Differential diagnosis
- Mucus containing cyst arising from Rathke cleft remnants
- Intrasellar or suprasellar
- Incidental postmortem finding
- Larger cysts, usually in adults, may be symptomatic
Gross description
- Thin walled, mucinous contents
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Lined by columnar ciliated epithelium with goblet cells
- Variable fragments of pituitary tissue, squamous metaplasia, xanthogranulomatous reaction
Positive stains
Differential diagnosis
- Craniopharyngioma, papillary
- Normal intermediate lobe cysts:
- Small, asymptomatic, lack goblet cells and cilia
