Scanning electron microscopy of nerve sheath neoplasms.

Neurofibromas and schwannomas were clearly differentiable by scanning electron microscopy of thin microscopic sections. Neurofibromas exhibited ordered laminations of collagen with scattered fibroblast-like cells interspersed. Schwannomas contained proliferations of smooth tube-forming cells. These neoplastic characteristics were compared with cellular characteristics of normal nerve sheaths to determine the cell of origin in each neoplasm.