Case Report Open Access
Persec et al., J Clin Exp Dermatol Res 2013, S6
DOI: 10.4172/2155-9554.S6-011
J Clin Exp Dermatol Res Dermatology: Case Reports ISSN: 2155-9554 JCEDR, an open access journal
Keywords: Median raphe cyst; Immunohistochemical analysis;
Surgical treatment
Summary
Cysts of the median raphe are very rare. We describe a 20-year-old
man with an asymptomatic nodule on the ventral surface of the penis.
Te nodule was surgically removed under local anesthesia, and send to
histological and immunohistochemical analysis. Immunohistologicaly
epithelial cells appeared Cytokeratin-7 (CK7), epithelial membrane
antigen (EMA) positive and anti-S100 protein (S100), Cytokeratin-20
(CK20), smooth muscle actin (SMA) and carcinoembryonic antigen
(CEA) negative. Histological and immunohystochemical fndings
indicate median raphe cyst.
Introduction
Median raphe cysts of the penis are benign lesions in young men
[1,2]. Median raphe cyst was frst described in detail by Mermet in
1895 [1,2]. Tese cysts are midline-developmental and can occur
anywhere from the anus to the urinary meatus [1,2]. When located
on the border of the meatus they are also termed as parameatal
cysts [3]. Lesion is usually asymptomatic, but can be complicated by
infection or trauma [2,4]. It is thought that cysts of the median raphe
to arise from embryologic developmental defects of the male urethra
[1-3]. Histologically the cyst does not communicate with the urethra
and is lined by a pseudostratifed, columnar or stratifed squamous
cell epithelium, similar to urethral transitional epithelium [2,5]. Te
luminal cells may present with minimal secretion [6,7]. Terefore
the lesion can be misinterpreted as an apocrine hydrocystoma or
cystadenoma [6,7].
Case Report
We present a 20-year old man with an asymptomatic nodule on
the ventral surface of the penis. Physical examination revealed round,
painless, sof nodule, 0.9 cm in diameter on the ventral surface of the
penis, just proximal to the glans (Figure 1). Tere was no history of
trauma or infection. In this case, because of problems during sexual
intercourse was treated surgically this change on the penis.
Histolopathological examination showed unilocular cystic cavity
within the corium, lined by columnar, partially pseudostratifed
epithelium with occasional mucinous cells (Figure 2). Te lumen
was empty. Tere was no epithelial atypia or infammatory infltrate.
*Corresponding author: Zlatko Hrgovic, Department of Gynecology, University
Hospital Osijek, Croatia, Europe, Tel: 0049 69 293000; Fax: 0049 69 291697;
E-mail: info@hrgovic.de
Received December 26, 2012; Accepted February 26, 2013; Published March
09, 2013
Citation: Persec Z, Persec J, Sovic T, Rako D, Bacalja J, et al. (2013) Median
Raphe Cyst–Clinical Report and Immunohistochemical Analysis. J Clin Exp
Dermatol Res S6: 011. doi:10.4172/2155-9554.S6-011
Copyright: © 2013 Persec Z, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under
the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and
source are credited.
Median Raphe Cyst–Clinical Report and Immunohistochemical Analysis
Zoran Persec
1
, Jasminka Persec
2
, Tomislav Sovic
1
, Duje Rako
2
, Jasna Bacalja
3
, Zlatko Hrgovic
4
* and Roland Kaufmann
5
1
Department of Urology, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
2
Anesthesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Care Medicine Clinic, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
3
Department of Pathology, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
4
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, J.-W Goethe University School of Medicine, Frankfurt/M, Germany
5
Department of Dermatology and Venereology, J.-W Goethe University School of Medicine, Frankfurt, Germany
Immunohistologicaly epithelial cells appeared EMA (Figure 3a)
and CK7 (Figure 3b) positive and S100, CK20, SMA i CEA negative.
Histological and immunohystochemical fndings indicate median
raphe cyst.
Discussion
Median raphe cysts of the penis are benign and very rare lesion [1,2].
Only a few cases have been published, mostly in dermatology journals
rather than urology publications. Te cysts are usually asymptomatic;
hence, many cases are probably not reported. Numerous terms
including mucus cyst of the penis, genitoperineal cyst of the medium
raphe, parameatal cyst, hydrocystoma, and apocrine cystadenoma of
the penile shaf have been proposed to describe the lesion and should
be regarded as synonymous [3].
Median raphe cyst is considered an embryologic developmental
Abstract
Cysts of the median raphe are very rare. We describe a 20-year-old man with an asymptomatic nodule on the
ventral surface of the penis. The nodule was surgically removed under local anaesthesia, and send to histological
and immunohistochemical analisys. Immunohistologicaly epithelial cells apeared Cytokeratin-7 (CK7), Epithelial
membrane antigen (EMA) positive and anti-S100 protein (S100), Cytokeratin-20 (CK20), smooth muscle actin (SMA)
and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) negative. Hystological and immunohystochemical fndings indicate median raphe
cyst.
Figure 1: Ventral surface of the penis, just proximal to the glans.
Journal of Clinical & Experimental
Dermatology Research
J
o
u
r
n
a
l
o
f
C
l
i
n
i
c
a
l
&
E
x
p
e
r
i
m
e
n
t
a
l
D
e
r
m
a
t
o
l
o
g
y
R
e
s
e
a
r
c
h
ISSN: 2155-9554