Papillary cystadenoma of the epididymis. Case report and review of the literature.

The only known benign epithelial tumor of the epididymis is papillary cystadenoma. Since 1921, only 39 such tumors have been published. We report on a papillary cystadenoma in a 30-year-old patient. The tumor measures 1.5 cm and is located in the head of the left epididymis. Histomorphologically, these tumors are characterized by cysts with colloid-like contents and papillary formations of light epithelium. Papillary cystadenoma can occur uni- or bilaterally, most frequently in the head of the epididymis. Age of patients ranges between 16 and 81 years with 36.6 years on average. Bilateral papillary cystadenomas are combined in 65, unilateral in 18% with Hippel-Lindau' disease. Most authors regard ductuli efferents as point of origin of these rare benign tumors.