Brief discussion on the research overview of hamartoma

Hamartoma is an unfamiliar disease to us. In clinical practice, most hamartomas are discovered during physical examinations, because early hamartomas have almost no symptoms, and when the tumor is very small, no treatment is required, and regular examinations are the main treatment. Below, let's briefly talk about the research overview of hamartomas.

The term hamartoma was first proposed by Albrecht in 1904. Most scholars have always believed that hamartoma is not a true tumor, but an incorrect combination and arrangement of normal tissues within an organ. This disordered change in the number, structure or maturity of organ tissue will grow slowly with the development of the human body and rarely become malignant. The composition of hamartomas is complex. Most are tumor-like deformities formed by abnormal development of normal tissues, and a few are mesenchymal tumors. Fat and calcification are characteristic manifestations of most hamartomas. Popcorn-like calcification is common in pulmonary hamartomas. Twenty percent of renal hamartomas are combined with tuberous sclerosis. Liver hamartomas are mostly cystic and solid masses. Intrahepatic bile duct hamartomas are multiple irregular small cysts. Chest wall hamartomas contain bone-like density and mixed calcification foci. Hypothalamic hamartomas show a silly smile.

1. Pulmonary hamartoma: The cause of the disease is still unclear. The more easily accepted hypothesis is that hamartoma is a piece of bronchial tissue that is inverted and detached during embryonic development and is surrounded by normal lung tissue. This part of tissue grows slowly or may not grow for a certain period of time, and then gradually develops to form a tumor. The fact that most hamartomas occur after the age of 40 supports this hypothesis.

2. Renal hamartoma, the cause of which is still unclear, is more common in middle-aged women and is composed of mature adipose tissue, smooth muscle and abnormal blood vessels.

3. Hepatic hamartoma, which is usually formed during the growth and development period, is a tumor that grows along with the liver portal structure. Some pathologists believe that it is likely that the primitive mesenchymal cells develop abnormally in the late embryonic period, when the liver forms a lobular structure connected to the bile duct.

4. Hypothalamic hamartoma, also known as gray tubercle hamartoma and hypothalamic neuronal hamartoma, is an extremely rare congenital abnormal development of brain tissue in clinical practice.

5. Breast hamartoma. Breast hamartoma is similar to hamartomas in other parts of the body. It may be caused by the disorder of breast tissue structure in the embryonic period, which leads to the change of the normal proportion of breast structure. The residual breast duct germ and fiber and fat tissue grow abnormally after birth, forming a benign tumor-like hyperplasia. When the tumor develops to a certain extent, its growth rate will significantly slow down or stop. Some scholars also believe that breast hamartoma mainly occurs after childbirth or menopause, which is related to hormonal changes that affect breast tissue.