Peritoneal involvement by salpingoliths clinical significance and cytological challenges of interpretation.
We present a case of salpingoliths detected in peritoneal washing, during an elective bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, in a 32 years old woman with history of familial BRCA gene mutation. Salpingoliths are psammoma body-like types of calcification that originate from the fallopian tubes and can be encountered in peritoneal washings. Unlike psammoma bodies, salpingoliths have been tagged to benign and hyperplastic processes more often than neoplastic processes. Misinterpreting salpingoliths as psammoma bodies in peritoneal washings can be misleading for both cytopathologists and clinicians, especially as in the presented case, where there is a high risk for ovarian carcinoma. In this article, we aim to shed light on this rare finding, and report theories explaining its pathogenesis, in addition we provide an example of its challenging cytological presentation, to increase awareness among cytopathologists.
['El Hussein|Siba|S|https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1338-7107', 'Guerrero|Dominick|D|', 'Khader|Samer N|SN|']
D000328:Adult D001202:Ascitic Fluid D002114:Calcinosis D003937:Diagnosis, Differential D005187:Fallopian Tubes D005260:Female D006801:Humans D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms D010533:Peritoneal Lavage D012488:Salpingitis
salpingoliths peritoneal washing fallopian tubes psammoma bodies cytopathology