Abstract
The vulva contains a wide range of constituents including adnexal structures as seen in nongenital skin (e.g., apocrine and eccrine glands and folliculosebaceous units) and glands only seen in the anogenital region (e.g., anogenital mammary-like glands, major and minor vestibular glands). The modified mucous membrane of the labia minora contains apocrine glands and ectopic sebaceous glands.
Other glandular elements that are present in the vulva include the Skene glands ) paraurethral glands)), the major vestibular glands or Bartholin glands (mucus-producing vestibular glands), and minor vestibular glands (1). Mammary-type tissue in the vulva was first described by Hartung in 1892 (2).
Previously thought to represent ectopic breast tissue, anogenital mammary-like glands are now regarded by many as normal structures of the anogenital region. They are typically found in the sulcus between the labia minora and majora and extend through the perineum to the gland's excretory duct possesses an outer myoepithelial layer and transitional cell epithelium (4).
As the duct enters the epidermis, the myoepithelial layer is lost, and it is lined by squamous epithelium (4). Toker cells (cytokeratin 7-positive clear cells which may occur singly and in small clusters in the lower epidermis), similar to those described by Toker in the normal nipples, may be apparent within the ductal epithelium of the anogenital mammary-like glands at the site of insertion (5).
These Toker cells were first document in the vulva by Willman et al. (6).