Recurrent digital fibromas of childhood.An electron microscope study

A case of multiple and recurring digital fibromas in a child is described. The clinical features coupled with characteristic eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusions in the fibroblast-like cells segregate the disorder as a specific form of fibromatosis. By electron microscopy, the inclusions were amorphous and fibrillary, reminiscent of the viroplasm of fibroblasts infected with Shope fibroma virus. Virus-like particles were seen mostly in the vicinity of the inclusions; however, their significance is not clear. While the possibility that this unique form of fibromatosis of childhood may be of viral origin is tenable, further virologic studies are deemed necessary.