FURTHER OBSERVATIONS ON PEARLY TUMORS

Abstract

In 1920, I had occasion to describe two rather rare tumors of the type first depicted by Cruveilhier1under the name tumeurs perlees. Since then, the observations which follow, as well as the articles of Cushing2and Horrax,3have cleared up many doubtful points in my original description. The cases reported in 1920, the ones detailed by Cushing and Horrax, and those which follow, all belong to the class known to Bostroem4aspiale Epidermoide. They have also been termed tumeurs perlees and cholesteatomas. None of these terms is satisfactory, for various reasons. There are, for example, the pearly tumors so often found in the lateral ventricle of the horse, which have nothing in common with the growths under discussion except the glistening pearly surface. The term cholesteatomas is no less objectionable because often cholesterin is not present, and furthermore, tumors of the breast, testicle, etc.,