Ultrastructural study of glandular epithelium in adenomyosis in comparison with those of proliferative endometrium and well-differentiated endometrial cancer.

Adenomyotic glandular tissue from five patients underwent electron microscopic investigation to observe its ultrastructural characteristics. The adenomyotic epithelium was compared with that of proliferative normal epithelium (two patients) and well-differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma (two patients). The results revealed that morphologically the adenomyotic glandular epithelium is somewhat less differentiated than proliferative endometrium and that its cytoplasmic organelles have some similarities with those of endometrial cancer. Whether these similarities predispose the adenomyotic glandular tissue to malignant degeneration remains to be elucidated.