[Cerebellar astrocytoma and optic glioma--a comparative ultrastructural study (author's transl)]

An ultrastructural comparison of 8 cerebellar astrocytomas and 4 optic gliomas shows that the morphological patterns of both tumor-groups are identical. The confusion in nomenclature of these tumors is discussed and reasons for a preference for the term "pilocytic astrocytomas" are given. Further, pilocytic astrocytes seem to be a special, phylogenetically older, group of glial cells.