Skin nonmelanocytic tumor

Cysts

Steatocystoma



Last author update: 1 December 2014
Last staff update: 15 April 2021

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PubMed Search: Steatocystoma [title] skin


Ghassan A. Tranesh, M.D.
Hong Qu, M.D.
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Cite this page: Tranesh G. Steatocystoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skintumornonmelanocyticsteatocystoma.html. Accessed June 2nd, 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
Case reports
Clinical images

Images hosted on other servers:
Skin colored papules

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 Corrugated luminal surface

Corrugated luminal surface

Crenulated eosinophilic lining

Crenulated eosinophilic lining

Sebaceous glands within cyst wall

Sebaceous glands within cyst wall

Differential diagnosis
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