Keywords: Endometriosis, abdominal wall.jpg This obese woman in her thirties complained of an abdominal mass that her primary care doctor thought was an abscess She was referred to a general surgeon for incision and drainage The surgeon ruled out abscess by noting a three-month history of the complaint abscesses are more acute processes and by aspirating blood rather than pus from the lesion As this was such a large and bothersome mass the skin was about to break down over it that the doctor decided to remove it surgically The specimen was a bloc of adipose tissue with a small ellipse of skin over it The skin showed a scar from a previous Caesarian section interrupted by a blood-filled cyst resembling a bleb but slightly deeper This was just the tip of the iceberg as section of the subcutaneous tissue revealed a complex network of white fibrous bands interrupted by blood-filled cysts and patchy areas of interstitial hemorrhage The photo above shows a central slice through the specimen with the small skin ellipse at top center This slab measures 12 x 9 5 cm Photograph by Ed Uthman MD Public domain Posted 22 May 04 http //web2 airmail net/uthman/specimens/index html PD Ed Uthman Gross pathology Endometriosis |