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Medium power view of normal adipose tissue - for comparison with a liposarcoma
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Medium power view of normal adipose tissue - for comparison with a liposarcoma

A medium power view of normal adipocytes.
Notice the typically polygonal appearance of a single adipocyte, encircled by the many green arrows.
Adipocytes normally look empty because most of their structure is composed of a single large globule of fat that is extracted by the fixation, embedding and sectioning processes.
The only structure that is visualized in standard H&E staining is a thin rim of cytoplasm that lies just beyond the tips of the green pointers.
Embedded within this thin rim of cytoplasm is a highly condensed, uniformly dense staining nucleus.
Two typical adipocyte nuclei are indicated at the tips of the black pointers.
(Description By:T.V.Rajan, M.D. )
(Image Contrib. by:T.V.Rajan, M.D. UCHC )
Normal adipose tissue
Etiology

N/A
Pathogenesis

N/A,
Epidemiology

N/A
General Gross Description

Normal adipose tissue is grossly lobulated and yellowish in color.
General Microscopic Description

Microscopically, it is composed of typical polygonal cells that can range up to 120 microns in diameter.
The entire volume of the cell is usually taken up by a single large droplet of lipid.
This droplet of lipid is surrounded by a thin rim of eosinophilic staining cytoplasm.
The overall microscopic appearance is of a thin, lacy network of cytoplasm, separated by large polygonal, empty spaces.
Adipocyte nuclei are dark staining and highly compressed.
Fat is supplied by relatively abundant blood vessels that course between the adipocytes in the corners made by adjacent cells.
Clinical Correlation

N/A
References
Bloom and Fawcett: A textbook of Histology. 12th Edition. Chapman & Hall. 1994. pp 170
Normal adipose tissue
Synopsis by: T.V.Rajan, M.D., Ph.D. (T1X010M00100)[586]
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