A neuroma is any tumor of cells of the nervous system. They can be either benign or malignant.

The most common type is a traumatic neuroma, which follows nerve injury (often as a result of surgery). They occur at the end of injured nerve fibres as a form of uneffective, unregulated nerve regeneration; it occurs most commonly near a scar, either superficially (skin, subcutaneous fat) or deep (e.g., after a cholecystectomy). They are often very painful.

Other neuromas can be categorised:

• Neurinoma (Neurilemmoma) - a benign slow growing tumor of the neurolemma (myelin sheath) of a nerve fibre.
• Neurofibroma (Schwannoma) - a benign tumor growing from the fibrous coverings of a peripheral nerve (see Schwann cell).
• Neuroblastoma - a malignant tumor arising from embryonic nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system.

A special form of neuroma (named Morton's neuroma) occurs in the feet, near the distal metatarsal ends, by chronic pressure trauma to small nerve fibers related to gait; damaged nerve fibers are both fibrotic and hyperplastic.

See also

• Acoustic neurinoma
• Morton's neuroma
• Neurofibromatosis

External Links

• Traumatic Neuroma , Morton's Neuroma , Digital Pacinian Neuroma
• Solitary Circumscribed Neuroma/Palisaded Encapsulated Neuroma
• Schwannoma and variants
• Neurofibroma and variants

Neurom | Neuroma | Neurology | Oncology