DERMOID AND EPIDERMOID TUMORS (CHOLESTEATOMAS) OF CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Abstract

This report is based on a clinical, surgical and pathologic study of fifteen congenital epithelial tumors (epidermoids, dermoids, pearly tumors and cholesteatomas) of the central nervous system that have been verified microscopically at the Mayo Clinic. Fourteen of the fifteen patients who harbored these tumors were operated on by the members of the neurosurgical staff of the clinic, with three postoperative deaths. Fourteen of the tumors were intracranial. One dermoid was found in the spinal cord. The clinicians in the Section on Neurology of the Mayo Clinic have kindly permitted us to include the clinical observations in these cases, thus enabling us to give a complete story of this unusual and very interesting group of tumors. LIFE HISTORY OR CLINICAL FEATURES Pearly tumors (epidermoids and dermoids) are congenital new growths and since they arise from misplaced or aberrant epithelial tissue, the foundation for these tumors is laid early in the