Ultrastructural observation on a colloid cyst of the third ventricle. A contribution to its pathogenesis.

The case involves a colloid cyst of the third ventricle in a 20-year-old man. The lining epithelia of the cyst were composed of two different types of epithelial cells; stratified squamous cells and mucin-containing columnar cells. The presence of both squamous and glandular cells in the cyst wall supports the contention that the colloid cyst in the present case derived from an non-neuroepithelial source. The clinico-pathology of this cystic tumor is compared here with other epithelial cysts of the central nervous system (CNS), especially Rathke's cyst.