Malakoplakia of the testis and its relationship to granulomatous orchitis

The chance finding of two cases of undiagnosed malakoplakia in the files of the Department of Pathology, Queen's University Belfast prompted a systematic study of all cases of inflammatory testicular and epididymal disease diagnosed in that department during a 43-year period from 1934 to 1977. A total of 71 cases was studied, and no additional example of malakoplakia was found. In the Belfast collection, there is one other example of testicular malakoplakia and therefore a total of three cases in 74 examples of inflammatory testicular and epididymal disease (4.3% incidence). In the series there were 10 cases of granulomatous disease (13.5%). The world literature on testicular malakoplakia has been reviewed, and typical and atypical features have been determined. Also a comparison has been made between testicular malakoplakia and granulomatous orchitis, and the relationship between these conditions is discussed.