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Seminal Tract Amyloidosis: Synchronous Amyloidosis of the Seminal Vesicles, Deferent Ducts and Ejaculatory Ducts

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Pathology & Oncology Research

Abstract

Senile Seminal Vesicle Amyloidosis (SSVA) increases with age. Involvement of the whole seminal tract, i.e. the seminal vesicles, ejaculatory and deferent ducts was first reported by us in the International Symposium on Amyloidosis 1998. Since then we encountered four more cases of SSVA. In all these cases the ejaculatory and deferent ducts were also involved by amyloid. The amyloid was located mostly sub-epithelially, stained positively with Congo red, gave green birefringence under polarized light and was permanganate sensitive, slightly positive for lactoferrin immunostaining and negative for all known amyloid types. In recent years the amyloid was found to be derived from Semenogelin I, a major constituent of the seminal fluid which is present in the epithelial cells of the seminal vesicle and vas deference. This would explain the deposition of amyloid not only in the seminal vesicles but also in the deferent an ejaculatory ducts which transport the seminal fluid. In a review of the literature we found three more articles on SSVA in which the amyloid was not limited to the seminal vesicles alone. We propose to designate this type of amyloid as “Senile seminal Tract Amyloidosis” (SSTA) instead of “Senile Seminal Vesicle Amyloidosis (SSVA)”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology Hasharon Hospital, Petah-Tiqva, Israel

    Lea Rath-Wolfson & Rumelia Koren

  2. Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Lea Rath-Wolfson & Rumelia Koren

  3. Medicine Program, St. George’s University of London, University of Nicosia, 93 Agiou Nikolau Street, Egnomi 2408, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Golan Bubis

  4. Heller Institute of Medical Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel

    Shmuel Shtrasburg

  5. Department of Urology, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel

    Asaf Shvero

Authors
  1. Lea Rath-Wolfson
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  2. Golan Bubis
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  3. Shmuel Shtrasburg
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  4. Asaf Shvero
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  5. Rumelia Koren
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Correspondence to Golan Bubis.

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Rath-Wolfson, L., Bubis, G., Shtrasburg, S. et al. Seminal Tract Amyloidosis: Synchronous Amyloidosis of the Seminal Vesicles, Deferent Ducts and Ejaculatory Ducts. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 23, 811–814 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-017-0193-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-017-0193-7

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