CORPORA ALBICANTIA, CORPORA ABERRANTIA AND CORPORA ATRETICA 



38i 



' Yellow ' corpora aberrantia 

 The size range of 17 corpora of this type is from 1-3 to 3-3 cm. in mean diameter, average 2-12 cm. 

 They range in colour from a uniform bright lemon-yellow to primrose-yellow in both fresh and fixed 

 material. In shape they are usually irregular or amoeboid, suggesting a collapsed follicle which has 

 re-expanded only slightly, and often have a conspicuous stigma (Text-fig. 23 a). 



In histological preparations of formalin- or Bouin-fixed material, paraffin embedded, they are seen 

 to consist of a homogeneous collagenous matrix (staining blue in Mallory, green in Masson's trichrome, 

 and pink in Haematoxylin and Eosin) with uniformly scattered vacuoles representing dissolved lipoids. 

 In material which has been fixed in Zenker-formol (Helly) and post-osmicated (PI. VII, fig. 3), 

 darkly stained lipoid material is seen to be distributed in discrete globules throughout the matrix, 

 but there are concentrations of lipoid material at the periphery. In contrast to the normal corpus 

 albicans the outline is very definite and there is no penetration by blood vessels into the lobes of 

 the corpus. 



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Text-fig. 23. Morphology of corpora aberrantia (a-c) and corpora atretica (d-i). 



' Buff-cellular ' corpora aberrantia 

 The mean size of fifteen corpora of this type is 2-14 cm., ranging from 1-3 to 3-2 cm. in diameter. 

 Macroscopically the colour is a pale buff with a slightly darker layer next to the trabeculae marking 

 the folding of the original follicle and dividing the corpus into narrow compartments or cells (Text- 

 fig. 236). These corpora are very similar to the 'yellow' corpora aberrantia in histological structure, 

 but differ in their more regular outline and in the distribution of the pigment. They are thrown into 

 many small, meandrine folds reminiscent of a miniature corpus luteum and like the corpus luteum 

 give the impression of a re-expansion to occupy a roughly spheroidal or ovoidal shape. As in the 

 other corpora aberrantia there is very little vascularization and the blood vessels are confined to the 

 narrow trabeculae. In histological preparations the pigmentation is heavier in a layer adjacent to the 

 trabeculae. 



' Yellow and zvhite ' corpora aberrantia 



The size range of three corpora of this type is 2-2-2-5 cm., with a mean diameter of 2-3 cm. The colour 

 is white, with a deep orange-yellow pigment outlining the folds of the original follicle wall (Text- 

 fig. 23c). The pigment zone may be more extensive in parts, which then resemble the 'yellow' corpus 

 aberrans. The outline in the three specimens available is more regular than that of the ' yellow ' corpus 

 aberrans but less regular than the 'buff-cellular' type. Histologically they are seen to be similar to 

 the other two aberrant types, but have a much narrower and more densely pigmented zone near the 

 trabeculae (PI. VII, figs. 4, 6). As in these others the few blood vessels present are confined to the 

 trabeculae. 



