Spinal hemangioblastoma combined with pilocytic astrocytoma

Pilocytic Astrocytoma Arising from the Conus Medullaris in an Adult: A Case Report

Low-grade, sporadic, pilocytic astrocytomas (PAs) are rare spinal cord tumors diagnosed in adult patients. Their localization to the conus medullaris is exceedingly rare, having only been described in a limited number of case reports. Here, we describe a case of a 22-year-old female presenting with back pain, lower extremity weakness, hypoesthesia, and urinary incontinence. Imaging studies demonstrated a cystic lesion of the conus medullaris that was treated with subtotal resection and cyst-subarachnoid shunt placement. Final pathology report confirmed PA from the histology of surgical specimens. We discuss the current literature of conus medullaris lesions and their differential diagnosis.

Glioblastoma Multiforme Associated with Arteriovenous Malformation: A Case Report and Literature Review

Although microvascular proliferation can be observed in glioblastoma, obvious vascularity coupled with coexisting cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is extremely rare. This report is of a rare case of glioblastoma, coexisting with a cerebral AVM. A 20-year-old male presented with progressive right hemiparesis within 1 month. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large bleeding tumor with surrounding dilated vessels. Cerebral angiography demonstrated a left frontal AVM with a 1.2 cm nidus. The patient underwent preoperative embolization and radical resection. The coincidence of glioma and AVM was a rare association. However, the concept of hypervascular glioblastoma has been used in different states from different literature reviews; therefore, the role of proangiogenic factors should be addressed

Short-Spindled Cell Haemangioblastoma with CD34 Expression: New Histopathological Variant or Just a Stochastic Cytological Singularity?

Haemangioblastomas are neoplasms of uncertain histogenesis with cellular and reticular variants advocated in current lore. Herein we describe an intriguing cerebellar specimen with unusual traits including spindle cell morphology and CD34 positivity. A thirty-nine-year old man had an infratentorial tumour discovered incidentally and resected three times. In all the instances, histopathological diagnosis was haemangioblastoma; nonetheless, he had neither physical stigmata nor family history of von Hippel-Lindau disease. By histology, the lesion was composed of areas of conventional stromal cells admixed with territories populated by short-spindled cells packed in lobules, sometimes giving the appearance of gomitoli. Immunoperoxidase-coupled reactions confirmed the expression of inhibin A, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), PS100, and CD57 but also revealed focal immunolabeling for CD34, CD99, and FXIIIa. This case highlights the potential phenotypical diversity that can be found within these neoplasms. Rather than uncertain histogenesis, it may in fact reflect multiple lines of differentiation—histomimesis—prone to adopt unusual morpho- and immunophenotypes in a subset of haemangioblastomas.