title: [Morton's disease: optic and electron microscopy observations].
abstract: The authors performed an optic and electron-microscope investigation above the common digital nerve of the foot, whose fragments had been surgically removed from patients suffering from "Morton metatarsalgia" (neuroma). Histological sections were taken from pre-stenotic swelling in patients with clinical symptoms persisting for one year; perineural thickening without evidence of fibroblastic proliferation could be demonstrated, together with an intraneural deposition of an amorphous substance. In other patients suffering from Morton's disease for a longer time, a more pronounced epineural thickening in the pre-stenotic zone could be shown, with partial replacement of nerve fibers by amorphous substance. In the same patients endoneural fibrositis was seen at the level of the stenosis. Electron-microscopy in patients after one year showed an increase in collagenous endoneural fibers and microfibrils. These histopathological findings suggest a compressive mechanism in the pathogenesis of the damage to the common interdigital nerve in Morton's disease, caused by the extrinsic anatomical structures surrounding the nerve. The so-called "neuroma" can be identified with the pre-stenotic swelling.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Clinica Ortopedica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore-Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Palma
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tulli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic; D005528:Foot / Q000294:innervation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008875:Middle Aged; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000473:pathology*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000648:ultrastructure*
vernacular_title: La maladie de Morton: observations en microscopie optique et électronique.