抄録
There are many published reports about the morphology of brain tumors, but only a few describe their blood vessels in detail. This report documents the results of a systematic light microscope study of the blood vessels in glioblastoma multiforme.
Specimens obtained from surgery (52 cases) and autopsy (9 cases) were divided into four areas: normal brain, area of reactive astrocytes adjacent to the tumor, tumor, and necrotic tumor. The blood vessels of the four areas were analyzed and compared with each other. In the normal area, most of the vessels were capillaries in the gray matter. In the area of reactive astrocytes, the capillary network is more conspicuous than in the normal brain, due to the prominence of astrocytic vascular feet. In the peripheral portion of the tumor, endothelial proliferation was conspicuous in almost all cases. In the center of the tumor, two types of vessels were observed. One had a small caliber and a thick wall and the other had a larger caliber and a thin wall. The large vessel was usually filled with erythrocytes. In the area of necrotic tumor, the vessel walls were also necrotic. More large vessels were observed in this area than in the central portion of the tumor.
These various types of vessels are presumed to have different permeability characteristics that may be manifested in and around glioblastoma multiforme.
