Uterus Flashcards
The provided images are examples of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Proliferative
- straight tubular glands
- evenly spaced
- lined by mitotic figures
- no mucin vacoules
- stromal cells
- monotonous nuclei
- oval/spindle shaped cells
- mitotic figures
- endometrium will get thicker
Each endometrial phase is driven by which hormones?
Proliferative: estrogen
Secretory: progesterone
What day in the 28-day menstrual cycle does ovulation take place?
14
The provided images are examples of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Secretory phase
- no mitotic figures in stroma or epithelium
- nuclear vacoules present – headed for lumen
- glands look “saw-tooth” in appearance
- secretory material may be present in the lumen of the glands
- start getting prominent spiral arterioles
The provided image is an example of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Proliferative
arrow points to mitosis
The provided image is an example of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Early secretory
subnuclear vacoules
The provided image is an example of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Late secretory (predecidual)
- have about reached secretory exhaustion
- stromal cells develop more cytoplasm (hypertrophy) - more “plate-like” morphology
The provided image is an example of the proliferative, secretory, or menstrual phase?
What features helped you draw this conclusion?
Menstrual endometrium
- Stromal break down (confluence btw stromal cells)
- big/swollen cells
- stromal collect into clusters
- neutrophils & lots of blood
The provided image is an example of what part of the uterus?
myometrium
smooth muscle fasicles
What are the possible causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in pre-pubertal individuals?
- precocious puberty
- hypothalamic
- pituitary
- ovarian
What are the possible causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in adolescents?
anovulatory cycle
coagulation disorders
What are the possible causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in individuals of reproductive age?
- complications of pregnancy
- anatomic lesions
- dysfunctional uterine bleeding
- anovulatory cycle
- ovulatory dysfunctional bleeding (inadequate luteal phase)
What is the most common tumor in females?
leiomyoma
What are the possible causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in perimenopausal individuals?
dysfunctional uterine bleeding
anatomic lesions
What are the possible causes of abnormal uterine bleeding in postmenopausal individuals?
endometrial atrophy
anatomic lesions
What is dysfunctional uterine bleeding?
Uterine bleeding in the absensce of an identifiable cause in the uterus – typically due to hormonal abnormalities
glandular & stromal breakdown during the proliferative phase
The provided image is an example of what uterine pathology? It is most common in what demographics?
Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding - difficult to distinguish from menstrual phase endometrium, except you should be able to find some mitotic figures & don’t have saw-tooth appearance of secretory phase glands, nor stromal changes
menarche (beginning of menstruation) & perimenopausal periods
What is the name for infection/inflammation of the endometrium?
acute endometritis
The provided images are an example of what pathology?
Acute endometritis
- glands cysticaly dilated
- filled with neotrophils
- neotrophils in surface epithelium & scattered throughout stroma
The provided stain is indicative of what pathology?
IUD associated endometritis
dark blue-staining sulfur (actinomycotic) granule surrounded by inflammatory cells (neutrophils)
When differentiating between chronic & acute endometritis, what are you looking for?
Chronic: presence of plasma cells
Acute: presence nuetrophils
What pathology is shown in the provided histological slides of the uterus?
Chronic Endometritis
- Numerous stromal plasma cells (white arrows)
- cytoplasm slightly different color (pale/medium purple) w/ lighter color around the nucleus
- fair amount of cytoplasm
- nucleus on edge of cell
What is the clinical presentation of chronic endometritis?
abdominal pain
+/- fever
+/- bleeding
The following symptoms indicate what diagnosis?
- abnormal bleeding
- dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain
- dyspareunia
- dysuria
- pain on defecation
- infertility
Endometriosis - ectopic endometrial tissue
(can also be asymptomatic)
What is the most common location of endometrial tissue causing endometriosis?
ovary
How is the ectopic endometrial tissue in endometriosis different from regular endometrial tissue?
produces more inflammatory mediators
& b/c it is bleeding into abdominal cavity will also elicit inflammatory response from adjacent organs
Results in pain & scarring
What is currently the most favored hypothesis for the pathogenesis of endometriosis? Explain it.
Regurgitation theory
backflow of the endometrial tissue shed during menses is (instead of going out of the vagina) going up into the fallopian tube and out into the pelvic cavity
this explains the most common sites where endometrial tissue is found