The nature of the amyloid‐like material in a calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour: an ultrastructural study

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
An ultrastructural study was carried out to investigate the nature of an eosinophilic material, having the staining properties of amyloid, in a case of calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour. At the electron‐microscopical level, the eosinophilic masses consisted of two types of structure which are probably related. The first type appeared as sheets of fine filaments measuring 10–12 nm in diameter. The second type was in the form of aggregates of lamina densa fragments, probably secreted by the tumour epithelium. These fragments appeared to undergo some loss of electron density and became degraded into fine filaments, having similar thickness and electron density to those forming the filamentous masses. It is concluded from this study that the fine filamentous material is a form of amyloid which results from degradation of lamina densa material.