Kidney nontumor / medical renal
Developmental & cystic diseases
Mesothelial cysts
Author: Mandolin S. Ziadie, M.D.
Last author update: 1 December 2011
Last staff update: 23 December 2022 (update in progress)
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Mesothelial cysts kidney
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Positive stains | Negative stains | Differential diagnosis | Additional referencesCite this page: Ziadie MS. Mesothelial cysts. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/kidneytumormesothelialcyst.html. Accessed March 30th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Rare; cysts lined by mesothelial cells in vicinity of kidney that may present as renal masses
- Also called primary retroperitoneal cysts of mesothelial origin
Gross description
- Thin walled, unilocular cyst filled with clear fluid
- May be hemorrhagic
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Thin walled cyst lined by single cell lining of nonpleomorphic cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, vesicular nuclei and small nucleoli
- May have small gland-like spaces
Positive stains
- Alcian blue, keratin, vimentin, HBME1, WT1, thrombomodulin and calretinin
Differential diagnosis
- Lymphangioma: multicystic, has smooth muscle and lymphocytes in cyst wall and lumen, keratin+
- Mucinous cystadenoma: ovarian-like stroma, mucin+, CEA+, negative for hyaluronic acid
- Simple hemorrhagic cyst
Additional references
