Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor associated with paraneoplastic Cushing's syndrome: The rare case

Paediatric and adolescent ectopic Cushing's syndrome: systematic review

OBJECTIVE

The data on clinical, biochemical, radiological characteristics, and outcomes in paediatric ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone syndrome (EAS) are limited owing to rarity of the condition. We report three new cases and perform a systematic review of paediatric EAS.

DESIGN AND METHOD

Case records of paediatric and adolescent EAS patient's ≤20 years presenting at our centre between 1997 and 2021 were retrospectively reviewed, and a systematic review of the literature published between January 1970 and December 2022 was performed.

RESULTS

A total of 161 patients including 3 new patients from our centre were identified. Bronchial neuroendocrine tumours (NET) (28.5%), thymic NET (22.9%), primitive cell-derived tumours (18.6%), and gastro-entero-pancreatic-NET (13.7%) were the common causes. Primitive cell-derived tumours were the most common in the first decade (24/45, 53.4%) and were the largest (82 [60-100] mm), whereas bronchial NETs predominated during the second decade (42/116, 36.2%) and were the smallest (15 [10-25] mm). Computed tomography localized 92.9% (118/127) of paediatric EAS patients. Immediate postoperative remission was attained in 77.9% (88/113) patients, whereas 30.4% (24/79) relapsed over a median (IQR) period of 13 (8-36) months. Over a median (IQR) follow-up of 2 (0.6-4.6) years, 31.4% of patients died. The median survival was higher in bronchial NET than in other tumour groups. Distant metastasis and tumour size were independent negative predictors of survival.

CONCLUSIONS

Aetiological profile of paediatric and adolescent EAS is distinct from that of adults. Bronchial NETs have the best long-term survival, whereas distant metastasis and tumour size predict poor survival.

Rare case of renal Ewing sarcoma presenting as ectopic Cushing syndrome in a 12-year-old girl

We present a 12-year-old girl with recent onset weight gain and purple striae over the abdomen. Examination revealed her to be hypertensive. On evaluation for Cushing syndrome (CS), her cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were found to be high. MRI brain showed a suspicious lesion (thought to be pituitary microadenoma). Inferior petrosal sinus sampling was not conclusive of pituitary source of ACTH. High dose dexamethasone suppression test confirmed an ectopic source of ACTH secretion and CT scan revealed a mass in the right kidney which was laparoscopically excised. Histopathology and immunohistochemistry confirmed Ewing sarcoma. Our case highlights the rare presentation of renal Ewing sarcoma (RES) as CS. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second case report of RES/primitive neuroectodermal tumour of the kidney presenting as CS in paediatric age group and first with a concomitant pituitary incidentaloma.

Primary adult primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the bladder: A case report and literature review

RATIONALE

A primary primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) is a rare and highly malignant tumor that often occurs in the central nervous system of children and young adults. This tumor is rarely observed in the bladder.

PATIENT CONCERNS

In this paper, we describe the case of a 64-year-old man with a PNET of the bladder. He experienced dull pain in the lower left abdomen for 5 months (without any obvious inducement), which gradually became aggravated and intolerable.

DIAGNOSES

Partial cystectomy was performed, and a PNET of the bladder, which is extremely rare, was confirmed.

INTERVENTIONS

Following cystectomy, the patient's general postoperative state was poor and he could not tolerate chemotherapy. Thus, he was subjected to pelvic radiotherapy for 2 weeks.

OUTCOMES

His physical condition did not improve significantly after radiotherapy; however, we still plan to continue it. If the patient's physical condition improves, chemotherapy will be considered.

LESSONS

Most cases of PNETs are intravesical or at least mainly endophytic. However, in this case, the mucosal layer was barely involved, and the tumor mainly grew out of the bladder, which is very rare. The present case provides reference for the diagnosis of PNET.

Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour Invading the Inferior Vena Cava

In the present report, we describe our experience with a 44-year-old male with abnormal retroperitoneal primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNETs) in our hospital, who was operated on with a spindle cell neoplasm diagnosis.

LEARNING POINTS

Appropriate treatment is a crucial challenge in patients with PNETs due to late referral.The differential diagnoses were malignant pheochromocytoma, paraganglioma and retroperitoneal sarcoma.Physicians should keep in mind that the patient could be simultaneously suffering from sarcoma and a retroperitoneal PNET.

Metastatic Biphasic Primitive Tumor in the Mandible of a Child

Pediatric mandibular tumors present an aggressive biological behavior and difficult diagnosis. A wide range of odontogenic and nonodontogenic tumors comprise the spectrum of these lesions. We report a case of a 1-year-old male child patient showing facial asymmetry symptomatic of an expansive lesion extending throughout the body and ramus of the left hemimandible with a diameter of 8 cm. The histopathological report suggested a high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), recommending further immunohistochemical investigation of the ectomesenchymal or neuroectodermal origin of the tumor cells. The patient evolved with extensive bilateral pleural effusion followed by metastasis in the middle third of the right humerus, and died 2 months after the first biopsy procedure by acute renal failure with tubular necrosis, before a final inconclusive immunohistochemical report was reached. The lack of resources for less-favored regions of Brazil impairs rapid biomolecular examinations such as immunohistochemical resulting in delay of appropriate therapeutic procedures.

Heat-Damaged Red Blood Cell Scintigraphy in Helping Interpretation of 68Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT

Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT was performed to determine the cause of endogenous Cushing syndrome in a 10-year-old boy whose MRI studies did not reveal pituitary or adrenal gland abnormality. The PET/CT images demonstrated an intense activity in a small soft tissue nodule in the left upper abdomen where splenules are commonly located. Heat-damaged Tc-labeled red blood cell imaging showed that this soft tissue nodule did not have increased red blood cell activity, which indicated that this lesion was a true somatostatin receptor-rich lesion. The pathology result following surgical resection of the lesion confirmed adrenocorticotropic hormone-producing neuroendocrine tumor.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors: a clinical and radiological analysis of six cases

Background

Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) is extremely rare and highly aggressive with poor prognosis. Few studies concerning PNET's the imaging features have been published.

Methods

Six cases of PNET, all confirmed by pathology and immunohistochemical (IHC) examinations, were treated during January 2012 to December 2016. These cases' clinical course and imaging findings were retrospectively analyzed.

Results

Among six PNET cases, one located in left superior abdomen, one case at posterior abdominal wall, one case in right orbit, one case in left frontal temporal lobe, one case in pelvic cavity, and one case located in left supraclavicular fossa. The tumor's density was uniform for small tumor and heterogeneous for large tumors on CT images, while the size of tumors differed during presentation depending on the location of the tumor. Marked enhancement was visualized after injection of contrast media. The demarcation between the lesion and adjacent tissues or organs tended to be unclear. On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, the mass mainly showed heterogeneously long T1 and long T2 signal intensity, mixed high signal intensity on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) image. In two cases maximum intensity projection image reconstruction demonstrates tortuous blood vessels within the tumor on enhanced CT images. Five cases were treated by surgical resection with two cases received adjuvant radiotherapy and three cases received adjuvant chemotherapy. Six patients were followed up with a mean period of 34.5 months (ranging from 6 to 55 months). Five patients survived and one died. Among the five patients undergoing surgeries, one patient presented pelvic and abdominal recurrence/metastasis 2 months after abdominal PNET resection. One patient had a recurrent lesion in the right orbit involving the right ethmoid sinus 6 months after right orbital PNET resection. One patient's pelvic tumor recurred 7 months after PNET operation, and this patient died after 1 year and 10 months of follow-up. During the follow-up period, the remaining three cases did not show obvious recurrence and/or metastasis.

Conclusions

Overall, the imaging appearances of PNET lack characteristics. PNETs generally do not have clear boundary, or partially so, with its adjacent organs or tissues suggesting their invasive nature. Upon further validation, maximum intensity projection image reconstruction demonstrates tortuous blood vessels within the tumor on enhanced CT images may be valuable information for the diagnosis of PNET.