Female genital tract

Vulva, vagina, cervix, uterus, tubes, ovary and the pathology of pregnancy.

40 pages

Lesion

• Acute and chronic endometritisInfection of the endometrium follows delivery, abortion or devices; neutrophils mark the acute…
• Benign vulvar lesionsA blocked gland, two white itchy skin conditions and the genital wart: the common benign lesions…
• Cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL, HSIL)Cervical precancer is graded by how far up the epithelium the immature, abnormal cells reach
• Cervicitis and endocervical polypsSome inflammation of the cervix is almost universal; infections such as Chlamydia matter because…
• Choriocarcinoma and trophoblastic tumoursCancers of placental cells: choriocarcinoma spreads fast through the blood but is usually…
• Diseases of the fallopian tubeThe tube is small but busy: infection scars it, cysts hang from it, and its fimbriae are where…
• Diseases of the vaginaThe vagina is seldom the starting point of disease: developmental remnants, a few HPV-related…
• Ectopic pregnancyWhen an embryo implants outside the uterus, usually in the tube, the tube cannot stretch; it…
• Endometrial polyps and hyperplasiaToo much estrogen without progesterone makes endometrial glands multiply
• Endometrial stromal tumoursRare uterine tumours of the endometrial stroma; the border and the gene fusion decide whether…
• Endometrioid endometrial carcinomaThe common endometrial cancer: it grows from estrogen-driven hyperplasia, looks like endometrium…
• Endometrioid, clear cell and Brenner tumours of the ovaryTwo ovarian cancers that grow out of endometriosis, and a mostly benign tumour made of cells…
• Endometriosis and adenomyosisEndometrial tissue living where it should not: outside the uterus in endometriosis, inside the…
• Endometrium and abnormal uterine bleedingThe endometrium reads like a hormone diary
• Granulosa cell tumours: adult and juvenileAn ovarian tumour that makes estrogen: it causes bleeding and endometrial cancer in older women…
• High-grade endometrial cancers: serous, clear cell, carcinosarcomaThree aggressive endometrial cancers of older women: they come from p53 damage rather than…
• High-grade serous carcinomaThe deadliest ovarian cancer usually starts in the tube, carries TP53 mutation and has spread…
• Hydatidiform mole: complete vs partialA molar pregnancy is a placenta with too many paternal chromosomes: the villi swell like grapes…
• Infections of the vulva, vagina and cervixMost lower genital infections are common and curable, but herpes stays for life and some of them…
• Invasive cervical carcinomaMost cervical cancers are squamous and HPV-driven; they spread sideways into the tissues around…
• Low-grade serous ovarian tumoursSerous tumours that grow slowly: from a harmless cyst to a borderline tumour and, rarely, a…
• Malignant ovarian germ cell tumoursFast-growing ovarian cancers of girls and young women; each makes its own blood marker, and most…
• Metastases to the ovaryNot every ovarian cancer starts in the ovary: stomach, bowel and breast cancers often land…
• Mucinous ovarian tumoursMucinous ovarian tumours can be huge sticky cysts, mostly benign
• Non-neoplastic ovarian cysts and polycystic ovariesMost ovarian cysts are leftovers of the normal cycle and go away
• Other sex cord–stromal tumoursSolid ovarian tumours of the supporting cells: fibromas can bring ascites and pleural fluid, and…
• Ovarian teratomasA teratoma grows hair, skin, teeth and even brain
• Pelvic inflammatory diseaseBacteria climb from the cervix into the uterus and tubes; the infection heals with scars that…
• Placenta previa and placenta accreta spectrumIf the placenta lies over the cervix or grows into the uterine wall where there is no lining…
• Placental infectionsBacteria climbing from the vagina inflame the membranes and can start preterm labour; germs…
• Spontaneous abortionMost early miscarriages happen because the embryo has the wrong number of chromosomes; a smaller…
• The placenta in late pregnancyIn later pregnancy the placenta can fail from the mother's side (poor blood supply) or the…
• Uterine leiomyomaFibroids are benign smooth-muscle tumours, the most common tumour in women; they grow with…
• Uterine leiomyosarcoma vs leiomyomaA rare, malignant smooth-muscle tumour of the uterus that arises on its own, not from a fibroid…
• Vulvar neoplasiaVulvar cancer has two roads: HPV in younger women, chronic skin disease in older women

Technique

• Cervical cancer screening and preventionCervical cancer takes years to develop from a visible precursor; screening finds it in that…

Topic

• Endometrial carcinoma: types and molecular groupsEndometrial cancer is two diseases under the microscope and four in the genes
• Ovarian tumours: classificationOvarian tumours are named after the cell they come from

Mechanism

• HPV and cervical carcinogenesisAlmost every cervical cancer starts with a persistent high-risk HPV infection whose two proteins…
• Preeclampsia and eclampsiaA poorly built placenta releases factors that damage the mother's blood vessels; blood pressure…

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← General pathology

Educational content on the mechanisms of disease; not a diagnostic or treatment guide and no substitute for a health professional's advice. No doses are given.

Representative model, for educational purposes only.