Mesectodermal leiomyoma of the ciliary body: a tumor of presumed neural crest origin

Two benign tumors of the ciliary body diagnosed as neurogenic tumors by light microscopy were shown by electron microscopy to be composed of smooth muscle cells with unusual morphologic features. The light-microscopic appearance of a background fibrillary matrix imparting a "neural" appearance was the result of the interweaving of myriad cell processes filled with thin cytoplasmic filaments possessing fusiform densities. The perikaryon of the tumor cells was relatively free of filaments and displayed mitochondria and stacks of rough-surfaced endoplasmic reticulum suggestive of Nissl substance. The basis for these remarkable "hybrid" tumor cells--combining myogenic and neurogenic characteristics--is believed to reside in the neural crest origin of the smooth muscle of the ciliary body (mesectoderm). The histogenetic implications of mesectodermal tissue and the tumors that it spawns are discussed.