Cyst

This article is about cysts in the body. For the ICAO airport code CYST, see St. Theresa Point Airport. For hard-shelled resting stages of some small organisms, see Microbial cyst.
Cyst

Classification and external resources
Specialty Pathology, general surgery
MedlinePlus 003240
MeSH D003560

A cyst is a closed sac, having a distinct membrane and division compared to the nearby tissue. Hence, it is a cluster of cells that have grouped together to form a sac (not unlike the manner in which water molecules group together, forming a bubble); however, the distinguishing aspect of a cyst is that the cells forming the "shell" of such a sac are distinctly abnormal (in both appearance and behaviour) when compared to all surrounding cells for that given location. It may contain air, fluids, or semi-solid material. A collection of pus is called an abscess, not a cyst. Once formed, a cyst may sometimes resolve on its own. When a cyst fails to resolve it may need to be removed by surgery but this will depend on what type of cyst it is and where in the body it has formed.

Some cysts are neoplastic and are thus called cystic tumors; many types are not neoplastic. Some are dysplastic or metaplastic. Pseudocysts are similar to cysts (having a sac filled with fluid) but lack an epithelial lining.

Types

The aneurysmal bone cyst is a neoplastic cyst, more specifically an aggressive lesion with radiographic cystic appearance.[4]

Cystic fibrosis

Despite being described in 1938 as the microscopic appearance of cysts in the pancreas,[5] cystic fibrosis is an example of a genetic disorder whose name is related to fibrosis of the cystic duct (which serves the gallbladder) and does not involve actual cysts.[6]

This is just one example of how the Greek root cyst-, which simply means a fluid-filled sac, is also found in medical terms that relate to the urinary bladder and the gallbladder but that have nothing to do with cysts.

Cystic neoplasm

Examples of neoplastic cysts include:

Treatment

Treatment ranges from simple enucleation of the cyst to curettage to resection. There are cysts—e.g., buccal bifurcation cyst—that resolve on their own, in which just close observation can be employed, unless it is infected and symptomatic.[1]

Related structures

A pseudocyst is collection without a distinct membrane.

A syrinx in the spinal cord or brainstem is sometimes inaccurately referred to as a cyst.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Zadik Y, Yitschaky O, Neuman T, Nitzan DW (May 2011). "On the Self-Resolution Nature of the Buccal Bifurcation Cyst". J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 69 (7): e282. doi:10.1016/j.joms.2011.02.124. PMID 21571416.
  2. Parapelvic cyst
  3. Pericardial cyst
  4. Zadik, Yehuda; Aktaş Alper; Drucker Scott; Nitzan W Dorrit (2012). "Aneurysmal bone cyst of mandibular condyle: A case report and review of the literature". J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 40 (8): e243–8. doi:10.1016/j.jcms.2011.10.026. PMID 22118925.
  5. Andersen, D.H. (1938). "Cyst leiesic fibrosis of the pancreas and its relation to celiac disease". Am J Dis Child. 56: 344–399. doi:10.1001/archpedi.1938.01980140114013.
  6. Greenholz SK, Krishnadasan B, Marr C, Cannon R (1997). "Biliary obstruction in infants with cystic fibrosis requiring Kasai portoenterostomy". J. Pediatr. Surg. 32 (2): 175–9; discussion 179–80. doi:10.1016/S0022-3468(97)90174-3. PMID 9044117.

External links

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