A Study of Ovarian Thecomatosis

Abstract

DURING THE PAST several years ovarian thecomatosis or hyperthecosis has become a recognized pathological entity, but its functional significance is still unclear. Histologically it is characterized by hyperplastic sheets or nests of medium sized or large polyhedral cells, either spreading through the ovarian stroma or localized around unruptured follicles. These cells resemble the smaller luteinized thecal cells of a contemporary corpus luteum with round or oval hypochromatic nuclei and a pale eosinophilic, often foamy cytoplasm that stains positively for neutral lipid ( Figure 1). The location of these aggregates of fat-containing cells varies, an aspect of the disease that is ably discussed elsewhere.'6 In the past, progestational and androgenic activities have been ascribed to these cells by different investigators, these attributes to some extent dependent upon whether or not the theca cell proliferation was associated with unruptured follicles.It was of interest to determine whether, in cases of cortical stromal hyperplasia and polycystic ovaries, extensive thecomatosis was associated with a different clinical pattern of endocrine abnormality than when it was absent.