Skin nonmelanocytic tumor
Cysts
Steatocystoma
Authors: Ghassan A. Tranesh, M.D., Hong Qu, M.D.
Last author update: 1 December 2014
Last staff update: 22 November 2023 (update in progress)
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Steatocystoma [title] skin
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Sites | Etiology | Clinical features | Case reports | Clinical images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Tranesh G. Steatocystoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skintumornonmelanocyticsteatocystoma.html. Accessed November 29th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Small cyst with lining similar to corrugated cuticle of sebaceous duct, associated with sebaceous glands
- Usually presents as multiple cysts (steatocystoma multiplex), less commonly as solitary cyst (steatocystoma simplex) in adulthood
- Also called sebaceous duct cyst
- Onset most often near puberty; commonly in second through fourth decades
- Females > males (slightly)
Sites
- Usually on chest; also face, back, limbs; rarely elsewhere
Etiology
- Arises sporadically or with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance
- Rare cases associated with Gardner's syndrome, pachyonychia congenita, ectodermal dysplasias
Clinical features
- Firm, asymptomatic, flesh-colored to yellow papules or nodules
- Nodules usually 1 - 3 cm, but may be as small as 2 mm
- Benign behavior
- Excision is adequate treatment (J Cutan Aesthet Surg 2010;3:25); also laser therapy (Indian J Dermatol 2010;55:300), isotretinoin, cryotherapy
Case reports
- 17 year old girl and 26 year old woman with steatocystoma multiplex (J Clin Diagn Res 2013;7:166, Dermatol Online J 2013;19:20721)
- 25 year old man with steatocystoma multiplex (Dermatol Online J 2003;9:18)
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Skin colored papules
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Empty cyst with serpiginous wall lined by thin squamous epithelium
- Outer surface has corrugated cuticle
- No / minimal granular layer
- Abortive epithelial tract may extend from cyst to epidermal surface
- Sebaceous glands are commonly adjacent to or contiguous with cyst wall
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Corrugated luminal surface
Crenulated eosinophilic lining
Sebaceous glands within cyst wall
Differential diagnosis
- Cystic sebaceous hyperplasia
- Dermoid cyst
- Pigmented follicular cyst
- Vellus hair cyst
