Rapid Review Pathology error?

[amestramgram]

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Hi, I have a question about the RR Path:

page 554: next to pilar cyst he wrote (wen) in brackets; what is wen?

this is the 3rd edition

 

[killinsound]

pilar cyst aka wen

 

[amestramgram]

how does a wen equal to a pilar cyst? is that the new name? 🙂

 

[turkeyjerky]

i think it's a lay term

 

[PathologyStudent]

i think it's a lay term

The word wen comes from the Anglo-Saxon wenn (lump or tumor). It is supposedly the common term for an epithelial cyst - but I've never heard anyone talk about a wen, either in pathology or the real world.

Anyway. An epithelial cyst is a pretty common thing. It's a lesion formed by invagination of either the epidermis or a hair follicle. It's filled with keratin and sebaceous debris. There are several types:

• Epidermal inclusion cyst (has a wall of epidermis and is filled with strands of keratin)
• Pilar or trichilemmal cyst (has a wall of follicular epithelium, without a granular cell layer, and is filled with keratin and lipid)
• Dermoid cyst (like an epidermal cyst, but contains multiple appendages, like hair follicles)
• Steatocystoma simplex (has a wall resembling the sebaceous gland duct)

For more information on wens (epithelial cysts), see Robbins 9th edition, page 1152 (or 8th edition, p. 1176).