A case of neurofibromatosis complicated by medulloblastoma, neurogenic sarcoma, and radiation-induced carcinoma of thyroid.

Von Recklinghausen described the features of multiple neurofibromatosis in 1882, though Willis (1962) points out that there had been several earlier descriptions of the condition including a monograph by Smith (1849). Brooks and Lehman (1924) drew attention to the skeletal abnormalities in this condition. Crowe, Schull, and Neel (1956) made a clinical, pathological, and genetic study of 223 cases and Rosman and Pearce (1967) have correlated histological abnormalities with the associated intellectual deficit. Malignant change in the affected nerves is well known and was reviewed by Stewart and Copeland in 1931. Clark (1955) pointed out the increased incidence of carcinoma of the thyroid following irradiation of the neck for non-thyroid conditions, and Winship and Rosvoll (1961) estimated that 80% of a series of 562 cases of thyroid cancer in children had received radiotherapy. Pifer and Hempelmann (1964) found a similar association and reviewed the literature. The present case manifested two forms of spontaneous and one form of induced neoplasia.