An ultrastructural study of the histogenesis of haemangioblastoma

Seven cases of cerebellar haemangioblastoma, not associated with von Hippel-Lindau disease (sporadic haemangioblastomas), were studied by light and electron transmission microscopy. Morphological features that might provide information about the histogenesis of the tumour were examined. The ultrastructural data indicate both the common ancestry of the different cytotypes that make up the tumour, and the mesenchymal origin of the elements present, which were also documented by their capacity to synthesise lipid droplets in the cytoplasm (a process of lipidization similar to that of pre-adipocytes).