Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Cysts
Introduction
Overview
Overview
A cyst is a closed sac having a distinct membrane and division on the nearby tissue. It may contain air, fluid, or semi-solid material. A collection of pus is called an abscess, not a cyst. Once formed, the cyst will remain in the tissue but can be removed by surgery or resolve by taking medications. A cyst may also be a sack that encloses an organism during a dormant period, such as in the case of certain parasites. This type of cyst may, for instance, protect a parasite from the churning acid of the stomach so it may pass through to the intestines unharmed where it can then break out. Cystic fibrosis is an example of a genetic disorder whereby cysts and fibrosis develop in the lungs.
Locations
Locations
- Arachnoid cyst (between the surface of the brain and the cranial base or on the arachnoid membrane)
- Chalazion cyst (eyelid)
- Cysticercal cyst (the larval stage of Taenia sp.)
- Dentigerous Cyst (associated with the crowns of non-erupted teeth)
- Epididymal Cyst (found in the vessels attached to the testes)
- Ganglion cyst (hand/foot joints and tendons)
- Glial Cyst (in the brain)
- Gartner’s duct cyst (vaginal or vulvar cyst of embryological origin)
- Keratocyst (in the jaws, these can appear solitary or associated with the Gorlin-Goltz or Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome. The latest World Health Organization classification considers Keratocysts as tumors rather than cysts)
- Meibomian cyst (eyelid)
- Nabothian cyst (cervix)
- Ovarian cyst (ovaries, functional and pathological)
- Paratubal cyst (fallopian tube)
- Pilonidal cyst (skin infection near tailbone)
- Renal cyst (kidneys)
- Radicular cyst (associated with the roots of non-vital teeth)
- Sebaceous cyst (sac below skin)
- Tarlov cyst (spine)
- Vocal fold cyst
- Dermoid cyst (Skull and ovaries)
- Breast cyst
Related structures
Related structures
A pseudocyst is collection without a distinct membrane.
A syrinx in the spinal cord or brainstem is sometimes inaccurately referred to as a cyst.
Resources
Resources
- Template:FPnotebook
- “Cyst Symptoms and Causes” by Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD and William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR.
Template:Tumors
cs:Cysta (lékaÅ™stvÃ)
de:Zyste
io:Kisto
it:Cisti (medicina)
he:ציסטה
hu:Ciszta
nl:Cyste
no:Cyste
fi:Kysta
sv:Cysta
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Faizan Sheraz, M.D. [2]