THE NATURE OF VON RECKLINGHAUSEN'S DISEASE AND THE TUMORS ASSOCIATED WITH IT

Abstract

Multiple neurofibromatosis is a condition which has long proved a fascinating study because of its bizarre and varied clinical manifestations, its familial characteristics, its rarity and the large number of unsuspected lesions of the nervous system usually disclosed by necropsy. The case of von Recklinghausen's disease to be described is one of the rare examples of this condition involving both the peripheral and central nervous system and the meninges. It is reported not merely to add one more "interesting case" to the already large literature of the subject, but because it affords an opportunity to study the disease process itself. Further, it provides an opportunity to study the nature of the tumors which under other conditions arise from the nerves, meninges and central nervous system. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Virchow¹divided neuromas into true and false types. He considered that a true neuroma must contain nerve tissue and nerve