Bladder & urothelial tract

Congenital anomalies

Ectopic prostate



Last author update: 1 April 2011
Last staff update: 29 October 2021

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PubMed Search: Ectopic prostate[title]

Alcides Chaux, M.D.
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Cite this page: Chaux A. Ectopic prostate. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/bladderectopicprostate.html. Accessed March 28th, 2024.
Definition / general
  • Prostatic-type glands within bladder mucosa
Epidemiology
  • Rare; < 50 cases reported
  • Usually in young males
Sites
  • Mainly at bladder neck but also trigone and interureteral ridge
  • Very rarely at retrotrigone and ureteral orifices
Etiology
  • Due to vestigial remains of embryonic prostate remnants, metaplasia in response to chronic inflammation or abnormal migration of undifferentiated embryonic prostatic tissue with hormonal stimulation during adult life (Int J Urol 2005;12:1066)
Clinical features
  • May cause hematuria (most common symptom), dysuria, bladder outlet obstruction or persistent urinary tract infection
  • May simulate a neoplastic process
  • Benign behavior; no reported cases of malignant transformation
Case reports
Treatment
  • Excision; may persist / recur if incomplete excision
Gross description
  • Firm, smooth, dome-shaped, broad-based polypoid mass
  • Flat lesions also reported but very rare
Microscopic (histologic) description
  • Prostatic-like glands with luminal secretions beneath partially/totally denudated urothelium
  • May be associated with cystitis cystica and cystitis glandularis
  • Prostate-specific immunohistochemical markers are confirmatory but not mandatory
Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on other servers:

Prostatic glands with luminal secretion underlying urothelium (right: PSA+)

Positive stains
Differential diagnosis
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