Acinar Melanosis of the Bartholin Gland: A Report of 3 Cases

Int J Gynecol Pathol. 2022 Jan 1;41(1):93-97. doi: 10.1097/PGP.0000000000000766.

Abstract

Melanocytic pigmentation occurs in multiple sites in the lower female genital tract, but is rare within benign cysts of the vulva. We report 3 patients with multiloculated cystic lesions of the vulvar vestibule exhibiting prominent melanocytic pigmentation. The current cases differ from a previous report of melanosis in a Bartholin gland cyst in that the population of melanocytes occupies the acinar structures of the gland, rather than a squamous-lined surface. A similar cell population is demonstrated by immunoperoxidase methods in a fourth patient's nonpigmented gland, suggesting that melanin production may arise in a native, rather than metaplastic, cell population.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Aged
  • Bartholin's Glands / pathology
  • Cysts / pathology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • Melanocytes / pathology
  • Melanosis / diagnosis*
  • Melanosis / pathology
  • Middle Aged
  • Vulvar Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Vulvar Diseases / pathology