A case of cerebral ganglioneuronal tumor in the parietal lobe of an adult.
Central nervous system (CNS) neuroblastoma/ganglioneuroblastoma is one of the embryonal tumors with neuronal differentiation found in young adults, but it is most common in children, especially in those below the age of 5 years, whereas extraventricular neurocytoma, a rare neuroepithelial tumor with neuronal differentiation, mostly affects young adults. Here we present a rare case of cerebral ganglioneuronal tumor that occurred in a 32-year-old woman. The patient suffered from tonic convulsion, and computed tomography demonstrated a well-demarcated, round tumor 3.3 cm in size with marked calcification in the right parietal lobe. Histological analysis revealed diffuse infiltration of small, round cells with scattered large ganglion-like cells. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells did not react with any neuronal molecules, except for chromogranin A in ganglion-like large tumor cells, but electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of synapse-like nerve terminal structures without mature postsynaptic density, suggesting the presence of neoplastic tumor components with neuronal differentiation; thus, this tumor was diagnosed as CNS ganglioneuroblastoma with possible low-grade malignancy because the Mib-1 labeling index was less than 3%-4%. Here we discuss the histological entity of cerebral ganglioneuronal tumors, including extraventricular neurocytoma.
Nishihara
Hiroshi
H
Department of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, Hokkaido University, Graduate School of Medicine, N15W7, Sapporo, 060-8638, Japan. nisihara@patho2.med.hokudai.ac.jp
Ozaki
Yoshimaru
Y
Ito
Tamio
T
Yoshinaga
Tomoaki
T
Tabu
Kouichi
K
Tanino
Mishie
M
Nagashima
Kazuo
K
Tanaka
Shinya
S
D000328:Adult; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D018305:Ganglioneuroblastoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed