Ultrastructure of a virilizing ovarian Leydig-cell-tumor. Hilar cell tumor.

A case of virilizing ovarian hilus cell tumor (Leydig-cell tumor) in a 37 year old female was studied by light and electron microscopy. The ultrastructural features of this rare and almost always benign tumor are compared with those reported in the literature and with findings in normal and neoplastic interstitial cells of the testis. Tubulovesicular hyperplasia and formation of whorl structures of the endoplasmatic reticulum together with the presence of exocytosis vesicles on the cell surface may be the morphological manifestation of endocrine activity of the tumor. The identity of ultrastructural and optical diffraction characteristics of the crystal inclusions in both cells (hilar and testicular interstitial) favours the assumption of an homology of both cells and their neoplasms.