title: Parasellar myxoid chondrosarcoma: a rare variant of cranial chondrosarcoma.
abstract: Primary cranial chondrosarcoma in an uncommon cartilaginous tumours of which the myxoid variant is the least reported in the literature. This tumour accounts for 0.15% of all primary intracranial lesions and 6% of all skull base tumours. Chondrosarcomas are frequently misdiagnosed as chordomas, which have a different prognosis. Differential diagnosis is very important because, when treated with similar aggressive treatment strategies, chondrosarcoma has a much better prognosis than chordoma. We describe a 54-year-old female with a 9-month history of left ophtalmoplegia and increasing headache. MR imaging of the head showed a sellar and left parasellar mass. We performed a gross total removal of the mass via a left pterional approach. The histopathologic diagnosis was of a myxoid chondrosarcoma. A post-operative contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan of the head showed a total removal of the neoplasm. After surgery, the patient showed a transitory dysphasia with right hemiparesis, but they both considerably improved before discharge. Review of the literature was identified using the Medline database: only 10 cases in the worldwide literature were identified to report on this kind of tumour. We present a case report of myxoid chondrosarcoma, a rare variant of chondrosarcoma, with sellar and left parasellar localization. This histopathological type is a low-grade variant and its total removal is effective.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, San Giovanni Bosco Hospital, Naples, Italy. luca.arpino@alice.it
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Arpino
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Capuano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gravina
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Franco
mesh_terms: D002813:Chondrosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*