Hyperplasia of ectopic sebaceous glands in the uterine cervix: case report

Occurrence of ectopic sebaceous glands in the uterine cervix is a rare, unusual, and an incidental finding. Microscopically, sebaceous elements are typically situated high in the submucosa without an accompanying hair follicle (so-called free sebaceous glands). They are suggested to give rise to rare cases of sebaceous carcinoma in this location but are otherwise of little clinical significance. We report marked hyperplasia of ectopic sebaceous glands in the ectocervix, which produced detectable lesions on colposcopy. Histopathological examination showed foci of ectopic sebaceous glands located in the submucosa consisting of numerous, variably sized, clustered sebaceous lobules. Each sebaceous lobule was composed of a peripheral layer of germinative cells and centrally located, mature sebocytes with a multivacuolated cytoplasm and round or scalloped nuclei. In one area, there were over 20 sebaceous lobules that were partly connected to a sebaceous duct. To our knowledge, similar changes in ectopic sebaceous glands in the uterine cervix have not been reported till date.