title: Pineal germinomas with granulomatous inflammation. Report of two cases and review of the literature.
abstract: The authors report on two cases of pineal germinomas with granulomatous inflammation (granulomatous germinomas). Macroscopically, both tumors were relatively hard and grayish in color. Histological examination revealed a germinoma with multinucleated giant cells and Schaumann bodies in one case, and a germinoma with the background of acellular fibrillated matrix in the other. On immunohistochemical analysis, the granulomatous germinomas were shown to contain many macrophages, T- and B-lymphocytes, and glial fibrillary acid protein-positive cells infiltrating the specimens, compared to nongranulomatous germinomas. Analysis of Masson's trichrome staining tests showed that large areas of the granulomatous germinomas were occupied by a collagenous component; this was not the case in cases of nongranulomatous germinomas. Analysis of monoclonal anti-human Ki-67 results showed that the granulomatous germinomas had a lower score than nongranulomatous germinomas (p < 0.05, unpaired t-test), indicating that germinomas with granulomatous inflammation may have a better prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuratsu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kochi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunitoku
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hashiguchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ushio