True fibromas of the skin are rather rare tumors, even in the negro race. They do, however, occasionally occur, usually as solitary tumors in adults. They are occasionally found upon the abdomen, arising from the sheaths of the recti muscles. Fibromata of the tendon sheaths are also sometimes encountered. The growths are usually small, sharply circumscribed hard nodules, that are round or oval in shape. Fibromas always have a certain tendency to degenerate into sarcomas, so should always be removed, preferably by excision.

Fibroma Molluscum

The fibroma molluscum, also called neurofibroma and von Recklinghausen's disease, is a tumor derived from the sheath of a cutaneous nerve. The growths are usually multiple, and are accompanied in many instances by telangiectases and pigmented areas. The subjects are frequently below par mentally. The growths are often rather soft to the touch, and they may be of a distinct violaceous color. They are occasionally very painful to pressure. The growths do not tend to disappear spontaneously; in fact, the reverse is often true, and malignant degeneration may occur in them. In some instances these tumors are solitary and are then pendulous, and often of great size. Surgery alone is useful in the treatment of this affection. Neither the x-ray nor radium have proven of any value in handling these lesions, nor has internal medication influenced them.

*Anderson: Lancet, 1888, i, 1025.

*Adamson: Brit. Jour. Dermat., 1914, xxvi, 69.