Adult Brain Tumor Pathology 01

Topic: Pathology

Created on Wednesday, February 4 2009 by jdmiles

Last modified on Wednesday, February 4 2009.

 
        A) Pilocytic astrocytoma
 
        B) Oligodendroglioma
 
        C) Medulloblastoma
 
        D) Meningioma
 
        E) Glioblastoma multiforme
 

 

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This question was created on February 04, 2009 by jdmiles.
This question was last modified on February 04, 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

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A) pilocytic astrocytoma

This answer is incorrect.

The whorls of cells seen in the pathology from our patient (in the image at the top of this page) are more characteristic of a meningioma than a pilocytic astrocytoma.
Pilocytic astrocytomas are the most common glioma in children, but account for 2% of all primary CNS tumors in all age groups. Pilocytic astrocytomas look more characteristically like the image below:
  (See References)

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B) oligodendroglioma

This answer is incorrect.

The whorls of cells seen in the pathology from our patient (in the image at the top of this page) are more characteristic of a meningioma than a an oligodendroglioma.
Oligodendrogliomas have a characteristic appearance, with cells that look like a bunch of "fried eggs." An oligodendroglioma is shown in the image below:
  (See References)

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C) medulloblastoma

This answer is incorrect.

The whorls of cells seen in the pathology from our patient (in the image at the top of this page) are more characteristic of a meningioma than a medulloblastoma.
The vast majority of medulloblastomas occur in children. The appearance of medulloblastomas is one of small, blue cells, as shown below:
  (See References)

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D) meningioma

This answer is correct.

Meningiomas are relatively common non-glial tumors. They are characterized by whorls of meningioepithelial cells, and these whorls are evident in the image shown. Most are curable by total resection.   (See References)

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E) glioblastoma multiforme

This answer is incorrect.

The whorls of cells seen in the pathology from our patient (in the image at the top of this page) are more characteristic of a meningioma than a glioblastoma. Glioblastomas tend to appear more disorganized. They are rapidly-growing tumors which often have areas of necrosis, as shown in the image below (the unnecessarily large green arrow points to the necrotic region):
  (See References)

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References:

1. Prayson, R.A., and Goldblum, J.R. (Eds.) (2005). Neuropathology. Elsevier Churchill Livingstone, Philadelphia. (ISBN:0443066582)

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pathology
Adult Brain Tumor Pathology 01
Question ID: 020409046
Question written by J. Douglas Miles, (C) 2006-2009, all rights reserved.
Created: 02/04/2009
Modified: 02/04/2009
Estimated Permutations: 120