Colon
Congenital anomalies
Cyst of retrorectal space
Author: Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S.
Last author update: 1 May 2013
Last staff update: 7 December 2020
Copyright: 2003-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Cyst of retrorectal space
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Diagrams / tables | Case reports | Treatment | Gross description | Gross images | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Gulwani H. Cyst of retrorectal space. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/coloncystsofretrorectalspace.html. Accessed April 19th, 2024.
Definition / general
- Also called tailgut cyst, retrorectal hamartoma
- Retrorectal space is loose areolar tissue plane between fascia propria of rectum and presacral space
- Rare but most common retrorectal cystic lesions in adults, occurring mostly in middle aged women (Radiographics 2001;21:575)
- Often misdiagnosed clinically (J Am Coll Surg 2003;196:880)
- Arises from remnants of embryonic postanal gut
Types:
- Dermoid cyst: unilocular, lined by squamous epithelium and skin adnexae, no smooth muscle
- Epidermoid cyst: unilocular, lined by squamous epithelium without adnexa
- Rectal duplication cyst: unilocular, lined by colonic, gastric or respiratory epithelium with organized smooth muscle similar to muscularis propria
- Cystic hamartoma: multilocular with squamous, transitional or glandular lining, disorganized smooth muscle, occasionally foreign body granulomatous inflammation
Diagrams / tables
Images hosted on other servers:
Retrorectal space
Case reports
- 14 year old boy with prerectal tailgut cyst (World J Gastroenterol 2006;12:5081)
- 36 year old woman with laparoscopy assisted resection of tailgut cyst (Case Rep Gastroenterol 2011;5:22)
- 45 year old woman with tailgut cyst initially misdiagnosed as ovarian tumor (Arch Gynecol Obstet 2005;272:301)
- 46 year old woman with low back pain (Case Rep Med 2012;2012:623142)
- 68 year old man with extension of malignant tailgut cyst to subcutaneous space in buttock (Eur J Dermatol 2010;20:788)
- Causing pseudomyxoma peritonei (Tumori 2009;95:514)
- Two cases with associated adenocarcinoma (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2001;125:1361)
Treatment
- Complete excision recommended to prevent malignant transformation (Am J Clin Pathol 1988;89:139, Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000;124:725)
Gross description
- Multilocular, variable solid areas
Gross images
Images hosted on other servers:
Retrorectal cyst
Oval shaped, gray-white appearance
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Squamous epithelium and focal columnar epithelium
Early malignant degeneration
