title: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the pineal parenchyma. The first reported case.
abstract: We report a case of a 35-year-old female patient who presented with worsening headaches, vertigo, and vision changes. MRI of the brain showed an enhancing lesion in the pineal region. The patient was taken for resection of the lesion which was classified as neuroendocrine carcinoma of the pineal parenchyma, intermediate grade. Histologically, the neoplasm was cellular, mitotically active, and composed of tightly packed cells with high nuclear cytoplasmic ratio, scant cytoplasm, and ill-defined cell borders. Immunohistochemically the tumor cells were positive for chromogranin, synaptophysin and AE1/AE3, and negative for CK-7, CK-20, and TTF1. Possible metastasis from any other primary sites was ruled out clinically. This represents the first reported case of neuroendocrine carcinoma of the pineal parenchyma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakar
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chandler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
authors.forename: Eileen H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Bigio
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, United States. Electronic address: q-mao@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Qinwen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Mao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D010870:Pineal Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D010871:Pinealoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins
keywords: Brain tumor; Neuroendocrine tumor; Pineal gland