The occurrence of Masson's "hemangio-endotheliome vegetant intravasculaire" (Masson's pseudoangiosarcoma) in the skin and soft tissues is illustrated with 17 surgically excised specimens. Two forms are recognized; it may appear either as a pure lesion or as a focal condition in a pre-existing vascular process, such as pyogenic granuloma or hemangioma. The clinical appearance is not specific and the diagnosis can only be established by microscopic examination. It shows a predilection for the head and extremities. Its characteristic morphologic appearance makes possible its differentiation from a group of benign and malignant vascular proliferations. The key microscopic feature is the presence of a papillary growth composed of hyperplastic endothelial cells supported by delicate fibrous stalks entirely confined within the vascular lumen. The lesion should not be mistaken for angiosarcoma, since its clinical behavior is invariably benign.

We have studied elastic tissue changes in the lungs from patients with Marfan's syndrome, generalized elastolysis, patients with emphysema of other cause, and those dying from unrelated causes. Degenerative changes were seen in the elastic tissue fibers in patient's with Marfan's syndrome; they varied from mild to severe. Elastic fibers in the lungs of patients with cutis laxa showed by light and electron microscopy the same morphologic changes previously reported in the skin and vessels. While the alterations in individual elastic fibers in the alveolar septa appeared similar, in cutix laxa there was severe involvement of almost all fibers, whereas in Marfan's syndrome the involvement was not so severe, nor did it affect all fibers. On examination of lung sections from patients with cutis laxa or Marfan's syndrome, both were readily separable from normal and abnormal controls.

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