Koilocyte

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Cell smear from the area of ​​the cervix with normal epithelial cells (left) and HPV-infected epithelial cells (koilocytes) on the right.

Koilocytes (Greek κοίλος, koilos = empty, convex) are pathologically altered squamous epithelial cells as a result of infection with human papilloma viruses (HPV) , which are morphologically characterized by a sharply delimited, optically empty field around the cell nucleus . These cells can show further changes, such as an enlargement or shrinkage ( pyknosis ) of the cell nucleus, a double or multinuclear structure or a coarsened and intensely colored (hyperchromatic) chromatin .

The appearance of koilocytes within an epithelium is also known as koilocytosis .

literature

  • LG Koss, GR Durfee: Unusual patterns of squamous epithelium of the uterine cervix: cytologic and pathologic study of koilocytotic atypia. In: Ann NY Acad Sci. 63, 1959, pp. 1245-1247.