Virilizing ovarian dermoid cyst with peripheral steroid cells. A case study with immunohistochemical study of steroidogenesis.

A case of virilizing ovarian dermoid cyst with peripheral steroid cells and virilization is reported in a 62-year-old woman. The level of testosterone dropped to normal after oophorectomy. The cyst wall was bordered by a discontinuous band of steroid cells focally accompanied by smooth muscle cells. Immunohistochemically, the steroid cells were enzymatically active and displayed a profile similar to the internal theca cells of ovarian follicles. These steroid cells were most probably modified stromal cells associated with smooth muscle metaplasia of the ovarian stroma.