title: Cytologic features of giant cell ependymoma: a case report and review of the literature.
abstract: Here, we present a case of anaplastic giant cell ependymoma (GCE) occurring in a 15-year-old woman. Squash smear slides for intraoperative frozen section diagnosis revealed oval to round cell clusters with a papillary structure in a fibrillary background. This was occasionally accompanied by the presence of bizarre pleomorphic giant cells with hyperchromatic nuclei and prominent intranuclear inclusions. These intranuclear inclusions were a key clue to diagnosis of ependymoma. Histologic analysis revealed features of a high-grade tumor with perivascular pseudorosettes and bizarre pleomorphic giant cells, which established the diagnosis of GCE. We performed a review of literatures about the cytologic features of GCE, including our case, thus proposing that intraoperative frozen diagnosis of GCE would be established by squash smear preparations featuring the mitosis and necrosis, as well as the high cellularity, and the presence of giant cells showing hyperchromatic nuclei with eosinophilic cytoplasm and intranuclear inclusions/pseudoinclusions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Myoung Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Sun Och
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: Hyae Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Hyeon Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Soon Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Se Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Ependymoma; Giant cells; Intranuclear inclusion bodies