Cutaneous ciliated cyst - A case report with immunohistochemical evidence for dynein in ciliated cells

Cutaneous ciliated cysts (CCCs) are rare benign lesions predominantly occur ring in the lower limbs of young women. We observed such a lesion in the pe rineal region of a 12-year-old girl. The histogenetic interpretation of CCC s is controversial. The similarity of the epithelial lining of the cyst to the salpingeal epithelium supports the hypothesis of a Mullerian heterotopi a. Strong dynein positivity observed immunohistochemically in the apical po rtion of CCC lining cells suggests the integrity of the ciliary apparatus. There was a marked similarity between a CCC and normal salpingeal epitheliu m in the mode of staining for dynein, whereas the dynein reactivity of bron chial epithelial cells showed larger cytoplasmic aggregates of positive mat erial in proximity to the nucleus. No immunohistochemical staining for estr ogen or progesterone receptors was identified in our observation, although this finding could have supported the Mullerian histogenetic hypothesis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that antidynein immunohi stochemistry has been applied to paraffin-embedded samples from human surgi cal pathology.