Endometrial foam Cells

Abstract

Four patients with endometrial foam cells are described. In one the endometrium was obtained after parturition. It showed decidua and endometritis, whereas in the second patient, who had received birth control medication in the past, the endometrium was proliferative. In both cases there was a considerable amount of endometrial hemorrhage. The foam cells in these two patients had little granularity, and their cytoplasm contained hemosiderin. The other two patients received exogenous estrogen and presented with endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma. In these latter cases the foam cells were more granular, and contained no hemosiderin. Our findings confirm the presence of two types of histologically similar endometrial foam cell: a histiocytic, "non-estrogenic" reactive type capable of phagocytosis, and a stromal, "estrogenic" non-phagocytic type which is associated with hyperplasia or carcinoma and which may also be related to estrogen administration. Staining for hemosiderin may be particularly helpful in differentiating between the two types of foam cell. Such a differentiation is of practical importance because of the biologic significance attached to the "estrogenic" foam-cells which are usually indicative of endometrial hyperplasia or carcinoma.

Histiocytic endometritis

“…Many of the reported cases were associated with endometrial carcinoma [3–5]; in our case obstruction may have occurred because of post-menopausal cervical stenosis, as no evidence of malignancy was found on histopathology sections. Barua et al [6] proposed infection ( E. coli or P. vulgaris ) as a cause of XGE.…”

“…The first case of XGE was described by Barua et al [6] in 1978. Subsequent authors have added a few cases (Table 1): Buckley and Fox [7] in 1980 (2 cases), Ashkenazy et al [5] in 1983 (4 cases), and Pounder and Iyer [3] in 1985 (1 case). Blanco et al [8] in 1989 (1 case), Russack and Lammers [4] in 1990 (6 cases), Rivas and Phillipe [9] in 1996 (2 cases), and Kim and Lee [10] in 2002 described cases of nodular histocytic hyperplasia, which is considered to be a variant of XGE.…”

Xanthogranulomatous Endometritis: A Challenging Imitator of Endometrial Carcinoma

“…Up to now, only a small number of cases of xanthogranulomatous inflammation occurring in female genital tract have been described, most frequently affecting the endometrium and sometimes associated with endometrial carcinoma [1–3]. In 1978, Barua et al described the first case of XGE without evidence of endometrial carcinoma or hyperplasia [4].…”

“…In 1983, Ashkenazy et al described four cases with endometrial foamy cells. Two of their cases were presented with endometrial hyperplasia or carcinoma and the other two isolated XGE cases revealed hemosiderin in foamy cells [3]. In 1985, Pounder and Iyer reported a case of XGE associated with endometrial adenocarcinoma [1].…”

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation of the perimetrium with infiltration into the uterine myometrium in a postmenopausal woman: a case report

“…Indeed, endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial carcinomas have been detected in patients with XGI with endometritis [14]. Therefore, cytological and histological diagnosis is important to rule out endometrial cancer in XGI cases.…”