Abstract
Undescended testes in adults often show changes that may affect all its structures in varying degrees. The tunica albuginea is thin and poorly collagenized. The wall of the seminiferous tubules shows an abnormal constitution. The maturation of the seminiferous epithelium may be incomplete, and there are even seminiferous tubules without germ cells. Leydig cells have a tendency to distribute irregularly and form large clusters. The rete testis is not an exception, and its development can be altered, sometimes keeping its prepubertal appearance, others showing abnormal development. In the first case, the flattened cavities characteristic of mediastinal rete testis are not formed; in the second case a proliferation of small glands or papillae occurs which are lined by cuboidal or columnar epithelium rather than the flat squamous epithelium of normal rete. In these cases a differential diagnosis with both primary malignant lesions such as adenocarcinoma of the rete testis and secondary lesions such as metastatic adenocarcinoma from other locations should be established.
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Nistal, M., González-Peramato, P., Serrano, Á. (2017). Rete Testis Dysgenesis as a Marker of Undescended Testis. In: Clues in the Diagnosis of Non-tumoral Testicular Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49364-0_28
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