Corpus albicans-like structures in the gonads in androgen insensitivity syndrome

The complete androgen insensitivity syndrome is the most common form of male pseudohermaphroditism and is due to end-organ unresponsiveness to androgens. The patients are phenotypically female, but the genotype is 46, XY, and the gonads are testicles. However, the common presence of Sertoli cell adenomalike nodules of immature seminiferous tubules and the frequent presence of stroma resembling ovarian stroma may cause confusion about the nature of the gonad. Herein, we report the occurrence in such a gonad of corpus albicans-like structures, which resulted from progressive hyalinization and aggregation of immature tubules. These structures, which to our knowledge have not been previously described, must be recognized for what they represent to avoid misinterpretation in the pathologic evaluation of this disorder.