This is a fascinating
condition. Little bits of benign endometrium, both glands and stroma, become
"seeded" within the peritoneal cavity (and even skin around the umbilicus).
These implants grow and respond to the monthly hormonal cycles and can be
quite symptomatic. Would you consider this a metastasis of a benign
condition?
In your slide you will
see the implants within the muscle of the wall. Don't be fooled, these foci
are benign. If this person were pregnant, or treated with progesterone, these
implants would look very different, and could, under this hormonally stimulated
condition, be mistakenly called malignant. However, they are still benign.
There may be some pigment containing macrophages around the implants. These
are iron containing cells, reflecting old areas of hemorrhage, consistent
with the monthly cycle these implants go through, just like the rest of the
endometrium.
