Collagenous spherulosis

Collagenous spherulosis
Classification and external resources
Micrograph of collagenous spherulosis with the characteristic histomorphology - intratubular eosinophilic material with a spoke-like arrangement. H&E stain.

Collagenous spherulosis, also mucinous spherulosis and simply spherulosis, is a benign finding in breast pathology. It is almost always an incidental finding, though it is occasionally associated with calcifications, which may lead to a biopsy.

Significance

It is important to correctly identify, as it can be confused with atypical ductal hyperplasia, cribriform ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and adenoid cystic carcinoma.^[1]

Histomorphologic features

Collagenous spherulosis is characterized by a tubular/cribriform architecture with intratubular eosinophilic material that classically is arranged like the spokes of a wheel ("radial spikes"). There is usually no mitotic activity, and two cells populations (epithelial & myoepithelial) are present, like in benign breast glands.

The lesions are typically small (less than 50 spherules per lesion, less than 100 micrometers in size) and may be multifocal.

See also

• Adenomyoepithelioma
• Misdiagnosis

Additional images

• 

  Intermed. mag.

• 

  High mag.

References

1. ^ Resetkova, E.; Albarracin, C.; Sneige, N. (Jan 2006). "Collagenous spherulosis of breast: morphologic study of 59 cases and review of the literature.". Am J Surg Pathol 30 (1): 20–7. PMID 16330938. 

External links

• Histomorphologic criteria for collagenous spherulosis (Stanford School of Medicine)