[Tumorous neurosarcoidosis--a rare manifestation of Boeck disease--3 cases and review of the literature].
Neurosarcoidosis mimicking CNS tumours represents a rare manifestation of Schaumann's disease. The central or peripheral nervous system is clinically involved in 5% of sarcoidosis, basal parts of the brain being mainly affected by the inflammation. This location of the process causes basal meningitis with cranial nerve paresis as well as parenchymal granulomatosis around the third ventricle and hypophysis. Solid, space-occupying lesions rarely occur, evoking problems in the differentiation from cerebral tumours. We report three cases of neurosarcoidosis presenting as intracranial tumours, where a space-occupying lesion was the first of only manifestation of sarcoidosis. The lesions in our cases were found in parietal and parieto-occipital cortex and in the fourth ventricle and vermis cerebelli, respectively. These locations are unusual, since most of the reported cases were affecting the temporal lobe. We review the literature and discuss the role of neurosarcoidosis in the differential diagnosis of intracranial tumours.
Institut für Klinische Neuropathologie, Zentralkrankenhaus Bremen-Ost.
S
S
Probst-Cousin
M
M
Bergmann
J
J
Janus
B
B
Terwey
G
G
Sandvoss
K
K
Piscol
D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*