Vulvar Syringomas With Deep Extension

Solitary Vulvar Syringoma With Deep Extension; Potential for Misdiagnosis as the Microcystic Adnexal Carcinoma (MAC)

ABSTRACT

A 43-year-old woman presented with a palpable, pruritic, minimally painful right vulvar lesion. Physical examination revealed approximately 2.0-cm tender nodule at 70' clock in the right labia majora. Histological sections of the excision specimen showed an unremarkable epidermis with large, well-circumscribed dermal proliferation with extension to the reticular dermis. Within this proliferation are small solid and ductal structures relatively evenly distributed in the sclerotic stroma. The epithelial elements consisted of monomorphous cuboidal cells and assumed round, oval, curvilinear, or have other peculiar geometric shapes, including "comma-like" or "tadpole"-like configurations. The tumor cells were positive for CEA, EMA, and estrogen receptor and negative for progesterone receptor. The clinical presentation and the deep extension of the tumor were similar to the microcystic adnexal carcinoma. Although a syringoma generally presents with multiple lesions and usually involves the superficial dermis, a syringoma with deep extension was favored based on the lack of follicular differentiation, atypia, mitoses, and perineural invasion. Microcystic adnexal carcinoma and syringoma have a morphologic overlap and are misdiagnosed in 30% of the cases. Thus, it is exceptionally important for pathologists to be aware of and be able to distinguish these entities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a solitary, painful vulvar syringoma with deep extension.

Evaluation and management of the patient with multiple syringomas: A systematic review of the literature

Syringomas are benign adnexal tumors with distinct histopathologic features, including the characteristic comma ("tadpole") shaped tail comprised of dilated, cystic eccrine ducts. Clinically, syringomas typically present in adolescent females predominantly in the periorbital region. They may present as solitary or multiple lesions, and more rare sites of involvement include the genitals, palms, scalp, and the chest. Over the past 50 years, there have been >800 reported cases of syringoma either alone or in conjunction with a systemic syndrome, most commonly Down syndrome. The primary aim of this systematic review is to discuss the clinical features and associations of syringomas with a focus on the patient with multiple syringomas. Its secondary aims are to explore pathophysiology with a focus on multiple syringomas and provide comprehensive data on both traditional and novel treatments. Importantly, multiple syringomas present across a broad clinical spectrum. Though noted in many textbooks to be related to tumor syndromes, the association of syringomas with inherited tumor syndromes is only rarely reported in the literature. Despite multiple reported cases of syringoma, the pathophysiology remains poorly understood and treatment continues to pose a significant challenge.

Vulvar Adnexal Lesions: A 32-Year, Single-Institution Review From Massachusetts General Hospital

Context.—Because the skin and modified mucosal surfaces of the vulvar region contain dense apocrine glands and anogenital mammary-like glands, in addition to eccrine glands and folliculosebaceous units, benign as well as malignant lesions derived from these adnexal structures are, not surprisingly, found in the vulva. However, their incidence occurring in the vulva has not been reported, to our knowledge.

Objective.—To determine the incidence of various vulvar adnexal lesions.

Design.—We performed a retrospective review (1978–2010) of the cases at our institution.

Results.—A total of 189 vulvar adnexal lesions were identified. Most of these lesions were benign (133 of 189; 70%), with hidradenoma papilliferum being the most common, followed by syringoma and various types of cysts. Rare cases of tubular adenoma, poroma, spiradenoma, hidradenoma, cylindroma, sebaceoma, and trichoepithelioma were identified. Malignant adnexal neoplasms comprised the remaining 30% (56 of 189) of the cases. Extramammary Paget disease was the most common (49 of 56), and 29% (14 of 49) demonstrated an invasive component. Rare cases of basal cell carcinoma, sebaceous carcinoma, apocrine carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and spiradenocarcinoma were identified.

Conclusions.—In this retrospective review, we identified several benign entities that have not been previously reported on the vulva, namely pilomatricoma, poroma, spiradenoma, and sebaceoma. Hidradenoma papilliferum and extramammary Paget disease were the most common benign and malignant adnexal neoplasms, respectively. The spectrum of various vulvar adnexal lesions appears to reflect the frequency of the underlying glandular elements.