Clinical Features:

• Benign tumor of nerve sheath origin
• Most common in young adults
• May arise on any area of the skin
• Presents as a polypoid or nodular lesion
• Usually solitary, but multiple lesions are seen in neurofibromatosis type I, in which ordinary neurofibromas are the most common, but plexiform neurofibromas are nearly pathognomonic
• Cured by simple excision, with rare recurrences
• Malignant transformation occasionally occurs.

Histologic Features:

• Relatively well-circumscribed dermal or subcutaneous lesion
• Composed of a loose proliferation of spindle cells with wavy nuclei in a fibrillar, collagenous or myxoid stroma
• Scattered inflammatory cells, including mast cells
• Hyalinization of the collagen may sometimes occur.
• Mitotic activity in a neurofibroma in a patient with neurofibromatosis type I is considered evidence of malignancy.

A variety of subtypes exist, which will be described under their respective headings.

Cases associated with this book:

Neurofibroma
Author: Artur Zembowicz M.D. Ph.D.

Conference: DermatopathologyConsultations.com Teaching Collection