Ultrastructure of capillary permeability in malignant lymphoma

The ultrastructure of the blood vessels of primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma was studied and compared with those in glial, non-glial and metastatic brain tumors. Five surgical specimens were studied by conventional ultrathin section and freeze-fracture replica techniques. Tumor vessels of various sizes were found. The luminal surfaces of the tumor vessels were irregular and the basal lamina had multiple-layer structure. The perivascular spaces were enlarged and infiltrated with tumor cells. The endothelium had marked infoldings, increased pinocytotic vesicles and fenestrations. The intercellular junctions were short but no obvious opening was seen. On the replica specimen pinocytotic vesicles were calculated on an average of 28 per microns2. The essential features of the blood vessels in primary central nervous system malignant lymphoma were the fenestrated vessels. They resembled the blood vessels found in non-glial and metastatic brain tumors, but were distinctly different from those seen in glial tumors with non-fenestrated vessels.