Intracranial neuroblastoma and abnormal catecholamine excretion in a 42-year-old woman. Case report

Primary cerebral neuroblastoma: a case report and review

Primitive neuroepithelial tumors are the least common among supratentorial tumors in children. They pose great diagnostic difficulty, preoperatively as well as pathologically. Being quite rare, cerebral neuroblastomas are accepted as a distinct pathological entity, which differs from other neuroectodermal tumors, although clinically, radiologically, and morphologically at operation they are indistinguishable. Also differentiation between primary cerebral neuroblastoma and the other primitive neuroectodermal tumors may be difficult on light microscopy and be misleading. A 9-year-old girl with primary cerebral neuroblastoma who was initially misdiagnosed is reported. The other cases from the literature are reviewed and the nature of this rare tumor and its differential diagnosis is discussed.

Catecholamine-secreting malignant schwannoma in a patient with multiple intracranial aneurysms. Case report

A case is reported of malignant schwannomatosis (malignant transformation of von Recklinghausen's disease) with catecholamine production in a patient with multiple intracranial aneurysms. The patient had a history of episodic hypertension and elevated levels of catecholamines in the serum and 24-hour urinary excretion. Postmortem examination revealed diffuse central nervous system (CNS) dissemination of the tumor from the thoracolumbar spinal malignant schwannoma. A high concentration of catecholamines was demonstrated in the tumor tissue, and histochemical and electron microscopy studies suggested the presence of catecholamines in the cytoplasm of some of the tumor cells. This patient's clinical and radiological features, including severe headache, vomiting, stiff neck, ptosis of the eye ipsilateral to the internal carotid-posterior communicating artery aneurysms, and local arterial narrowing, mimicked those of subarachnoid hemorrhage from a ruptured aneurysm. However, the clinical picture was caused by diffuse CNS dissemination of the tumor, another primary malignant schwannoma of the oculomotor nerve, and intimal fibrous thickening of the arterial wall.

Primary cerebral neuroblastoma. Long-term follow-up review and therapeutic guidelines

Primary cerebral neuroblastoma is a distinct pathological and clinical entity that differs from other primitive neuroectodermal tumors. To characterize the clinical course of this lesion, the authors performed a retrospective analysis in 11 patients who ranged in age from 17 months to 26 years. The tumor had no predilection for either sex. Signs and symptoms were mostly those associated with increased intracranial pressure. The lesions commonly involved the parietal and occipital lobes. Computerized tomography scans of nine patients showed five solid and four cystic lesions; calcifications were found more commonly in the solid lesions. Contrast enhancement was seen in all tumors, yet angiograms typically showed an avascular mass. Total removal of tumor was possible in only two patients, both with cystic tumors. The remaining nine underwent subtotal resection of a solid lesion (in five) or a cystic lesion (in four). All 11 patients underwent postoperative irradiation that included the spinal axis in two cases; only one received adjuvant chemotherapy (solid tumor). Four patients, all with solid tumors that initially were subtotally resected, had evidence of tumor recurrence. The only patient with a subtotally resected solid lesion who did not have recurrence received adjuvant chemotherapy. The six patients who had cystic lesions are free of recurrent tumor at 26 to 109 months after surgery. Based on follow-up analysis of the 11 patients, recommendations are proposed for the treatment of primary cerebral neuroblastomas.