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Surg Neurol Int 2018 23;9:211. Epub 2018 Oct 23.

Department of Anesthesiology, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Background: Ependymomas represent 50-60% of all brain and central nervous system tumors. Previous lumbar spine surgery for resection of an ependymoma should not be considered a relative contraindication for the administration of epidural/subarachnoid anesthesia to patients in labor.

Case Description: A 34-year-old G1P0, who underwent resection of an L1-L3 intramedullary ependymoma 8 years previously, presented in active labor with residual left leg numbness and tingling. Read More

J Neurooncol 2019 Jan 20;141(2):449-457. Epub 2018 Nov 20.

Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program, The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Center, Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick children, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Background: DNA methylation inhibitors are logical therapeutic candidates for ependymomas originating in the posterior fossa of the brain. Our objective was to test the safety of infusing 5-Azacytidine (5-AZA), a DNA methylation inhibitor, directly into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spaces of the fourth ventricle or tumor resection cavity in children with recurrent ependymoma originating in the posterior fossa.

Materials And Methods: In patients with recurrent ependymoma whose disease originated in the posterior fossa, a maximal safe subtotal tumor resection was performed. Read More

Med J Armed Forces India 2018 Oct 5;74(4):407-409. Epub 2017 Oct 5.

Classified Specialist (ENT), Command Hospital (Central Command), Lucknow, India.

Neurofibromatosis is a neurocutaneous, tumor predisposing, inheritable disorder characterized by tumors of the brain and spine and the presence of skin lesions. The most important tumors associated with neurofibromatosis are vestibular nerve schwannomas, with others being meningiomas and ependymomas. The cord is also affected by tumors, ependymoma being the commonest, besides meningiomas and schwannomas. Read More

World Neurosurg 2019 Feb 16;122:e1300-e1304. Epub 2018 Nov 16.

Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.

Background: Current standard of care for children with infratentorial ependymoma includes maximal safe resection and local radiation of 54-59 Gray. High-dose local radiation has been associated with declines in multiple cognitive domains. The anatomic and physiologic correlates of this cognitive decline remain undefined, and there have been no radiographic studies on the long-term effects of this treatment paradigm. Read More

J Clin Neurosci 2019 Jan 6;59:310-312. Epub 2018 Nov 6.

Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine/Neuropathology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address:

The diagnosis and management of ependymoma may be challenging when there is a comorbidity of ependymoma and Parkinson's disease (PD). We report the first case to demonstrate unusual clinical and pathological features of an ependymoma associated with PD. A 77-year-old male with a history of PD had brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that showed signal abnormalities in the right temporal lobe, most consistent with a low-grade glioma. Read More

Cureus 2018 Jul 18;10(7):e3000. Epub 2018 Jul 18.

Department of Pathology, Osceola Regional Medical Center, Orlando, USA.

Medulloblastoma is the most common type of aggressive pediatric primary brain malignancy. This case describes a 45-year-old Hispanic male with no significant past medical history who presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of 15 days of 10/10 intractable headaches with one day of lightheadedness, confusion, and loss of balance. An urgent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed a 4. Read More

Brain Pathol 2018 Oct 16. Epub 2018 Oct 16.

Department of Neuropathology, Sainte-Anne Hospital, Paris, France.

Ependymoma with RELA fusion has been defined as a novel entity of the revised World Health Organization 2016 classification of tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), characterized by fusion transcripts of the RELA gene and consequent pathological activation of the NFkB pathway. These tumors represent the majority of supratentorial ependymomas in children. The validation of diagnostic tools to identify this clinically relevant ependymoma entity is essential. Read More

Brain Pathol 2018 Sep 23. Epub 2018 Sep 23.

Institute of Neuropathology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Bonn, Germany.

Ependymoma with YAP1-MAMLD1 fusion is a rare, recently described supratentorial neoplasm of childhood, with few cases published so far. We report on 15 pediatric patients with ependymomas carrying YAP1-MAMLD1 fusions, with their characteristic histopathology, immunophenotype and molecular/cytogenetic, radiological and clinical features. The YAP1-MAMLD1 fusion was documented by RT-PCR/Sanger sequencing, and tumor genomes were studied by molecular inversion probe (MIP) analysis. Read More

Neuroradiol J 2018 Dec 19;31(6):554-564. Epub 2018 Sep 19.

1 Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, USA.

Purpose: We applied voxelwise apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis in addition to structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and patients' age for differentiation of intraaxial posterior fossa tumors involving the fourth ventricle.

Participants And Methods: Pretreatment MRIs of 74 patients with intraaxial brain neoplasm involving the fourth ventricle, from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2015, were reviewed. The tumor solid components were segmented and voxelwise ADC histogram variables were determined. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Dec 6;120:125-128. Epub 2018 Sep 6.

Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Brain and Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tottori University, Yonago, Tottori, Japan.

Background: Li-Fraumeni syndrome is a genetic disease that is caused by mutation of the tumor suppressor gene TP53. Patients with this syndrome may develop multiple malignant neoplasms including brain tumors. We herein report the first case of Li-Fraumeni syndrome in which development of supratentorial anaplastic ependymoma led to difficulty in terms of selecting the optimal postoperative therapeutic protocol. Read More

Mymensingh Med J 2018 Jul;27(3):665-668

Dr Kohinoor Jahan Shyamaly, Resident Phase-B, Department of General Paediatrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Primitive neuroectodermal tumors are malignant tumor of pluripotent cells of neural crest. It has diverse clinical presentation and aggressive clinical behaviour. Clinical features may provide some clue but imaging studies such as MRI of brain; tissue histopathology, immune histochemistry and cytogenetic are essential to confirm the diagnosis. Read More

No Shinkei Geka 2018 Aug;46(8):707-711

Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University.

Introduction: The draining veins of the brain stem and cerebellum commonly drain into the petrosal vein and sigmoid sinus, and often drain into the marginal sinus in the caudal part of the posterior fossa. Here, we report a rare case of anaplastic ependymoma involving a bridging vein that drained directly into the occipital sinus.

Case Description: A 6-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital with a 1-month history of nausea, headache, and dizziness. Read More

Pediatr Radiol 2018 12 17;48(13):1955-1963. Epub 2018 Aug 17.

Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.

Central nervous system neoplasms are the most common solid tumours that develop in children, with the greatest proportion located in the infratentorium. The 2016 World Health Organization Central Nervous System tumour classification evolved from the 2007 edition with the integration of molecular and genetic profiling into the diagnosis, the addition of new entities and the removal of others. Radiology can assist with the subtyping of tumours from certain characteristics described below to provide prognostic information and guide further management. Read More

J Neurooncol 2018 Nov 14;140(2):457-465. Epub 2018 Aug 14.

Pediatric Radiotherapy Unit (LG, EP), Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan, Italy.

Purpose: The aims of patients' radiological surveillance are to: ascertain relapse; apply second-line therapy; accrue patients in phase 1/2 protocols if second-line therapy is not standardized/curative; and assess/treat iatrogenic effects. To lessen the emotional and socioeconomic burdens for patients and families, we ideally need to establish whether scheduled radiological surveillance gives patients a better outcome than waiting for symptoms and signs to appear.

Methods: We analyzed a prospective series of 160 newly-diagnosed and treated pediatric/adolescent patients with intracranial ependymoma, comparing patients with recurrent disease identified on scheduled MRI (the RECPT group; 34 cases) with those showing signs/symptoms of recurrent disease (the SYMPPT group; 16 cases). Read More

Surg Neurol Int 2018 24;9:144. Epub 2018 Jul 24.

Department of Neurosurgery, Clinical Neurosciences Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Background: Ependymomas are rare neuroepithelial tumors thought to arise from radial glial precursor cells lining the walls of the ventricles and central canal of the brain and spinal cord, respectively. Histopathological classification, according to World Health Organization criteria, has only recently defined the RELA-fusion positive ependymoma. These tumors may account for 70% of supratentorial ependymomas in children and represent an aggressive entity distinct from other ependymomas. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Nov 9;119:e855-e863. Epub 2018 Aug 9.

Department of Neurosurgery, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Objective: To evaluate a new surgical tool combining suction and monopolar neurostimulation (stimulation sucker) for cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumors. The usefulness for continuous (time) and dynamic (space) facial nerve mapping was studied.

Methods: Patients operated on with the stimulation sucker for a CPA tumor between April 2016 and May 2017 in a tertiary care center were identified. Read More

Sci Rep 2018 Aug 10;8(1):11992. Epub 2018 Aug 10.

Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

Paediatric brain tumors are becoming well characterized due to large genomic and epigenomic studies. Metabolomics is a powerful analytical approach aiding in the characterization of tumors. This study shows that common cerebellar tumors have metabolite profiles sufficiently different to build accurate, robust diagnostic classifiers, and that the metabolite profiles can be used to assess differences in metabolism between the tumors. Read More

Clin Nucl Med 2018 Sep;43(9):e319-e321

A 49-year-old woman presented to the emergency room with subacute paraparesis associated with bilateral cervicobrachial neuralgia. Brain and spine MRI revealed a heterogeneous hypervascular pineal tumor and a multifocal thoracolumbar intradural-extramedullary infiltrate with signs of medullary compression. C7-T2 laminectomy was performed on the same day for medullary decompression, allowing for partial lesion excision. Read More

Pediatr Radiol 2018 10 30;48(11):1630-1641. Epub 2018 Jul 30.

Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

Background: A tool for diagnosing childhood cerebellar tumours using magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy peak height measurement has been developed based on retrospective analysis of single-centre data.

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of the peak height measurement tool in a multicentre prospective study, and optimise it by adding new prospective data to the original dataset.

Materials And Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and single-voxel MR spectroscopy were performed on children with cerebellar tumours at three centres. Read More

Neuropathology 2018 Oct 26;38(5):557-560. Epub 2018 Jul 26.

Pathology Unit, Department of Diagnostics and Public Health, University and Hospital Trust of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Low-grade neuroepithelial tumors (LGNT) show a broad histopathological spectrum and may be difficult to classify using current World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. A 57-year-old man came to medical attention because of headaches. The patient medical history was otherwise unremarkable. Read More

Clin Neuroradiol 2018 Jul 19. Epub 2018 Jul 19.

Reference Center for Neuroradiology, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Würzburg, Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080, Würzburg, Germany.

Purpose: Epigenetic profiling has recently identified clinically and molecularly distinct subgroups of ependymoma. The 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification recognized supratentorial ependymomas (ST-EPN) with REL-associated protein/p65 (RELA) fusion as a clinicopathological entity. These tumors represent 70% of pediatric ST-EPN characterized by recurrent C11orf95-RELA fusion transcripts, which lead to pathological activation of the nuclear factor 'kappa-light-chain-enhancer' of activated B-cells (NF-κB) signaling pathway. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Sep 20;117:190-194. Epub 2018 Jun 20.

Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address:

Background: Gastroparesis following resection of a fourth ventricle tumor has never been reported in the literature. We report a unique case of gastroparesis following resection of a fourth-ventricle ependymoma in a child.

Case Description: A 14-year-old boy had a 12-day history of headache, nausea, and vomiting. Read More

Rofo 2018 10 18;190(10):955-966. Epub 2018 Jun 18.

Goethe-University, Institute for Neuroradiology, Frankfurt, Germany.

Purpose: Intracranial subependymomas are rare, mostly asymptomatic tumours, which are often found incidentally and therefore did not receive much attention in previous literature. By being classified as benign grade I in the WHO classification of tumours of the central nervous system, they are given a special status compared to the other ependymal tumours. Tumor recurrences are a rarity, spinal "drop metastases" do not occur. Read More

Acta Neuropathol 2018 Aug 16;136(2):211-226. Epub 2018 Jun 16.

Department of Computational Biology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, 38105, USA.

Of nine ependymoma molecular groups detected by DNA methylation profiling, the posterior fossa type A (PFA) is most prevalent. We used DNA methylation profiling to look for further molecular heterogeneity among 675 PFA ependymomas. Two major subgroups, PFA-1 and PFA-2, and nine minor subtypes were discovered. Read More

Handb Clin Neurol 2018 ;155:289-299

Department of Oncology and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address:

The cerebellum is the most common site of presentation of central nervous system tumors in children but exceedingly rare in adults. Children often present with acute symptoms related to increased intracranial pressure, requiring urgent surgical intervention. The differential diagnosis is broad and includes a variety of benign and malignant entities. Read More

Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2018 Jul 29;101(4):854-859. Epub 2018 Mar 29.

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, Florida. Electronic address:

Purpose: To estimate the rate of and identify risk factors for vasculopathy after proton therapy in pediatric patients with central nervous system and skull base tumors.

Methods And Materials: Between 2006 and 2015, 644 pediatric patients with central nervous system and skull base tumors were treated with proton therapy at a single institution. The 3 most common histologies were craniopharyngioma (n = 135), ependymoma (n = 135), and low-grade glioma (n = 131). Read More

Eur J Radiol 2018 Apr 15;101:136-143. Epub 2018 Feb 15.

Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.

Purpose: It is often difficult to distinguish between embryonal and ependymal tumors using conventional MR imaging. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) calculated from diffusion-weighted images (DWI) has been widely used for diagnosis, but its usefulness for differential diagnosis between embryonal and ependymal tumors has not been determined yet. Both DWI properties and ADC values of these two types of tumor at regular and high b-values on a 3 T MR scanner were retrospectively reviewed. Read More

World Neurosurg 2018 Jun 14;114:e647-e653. Epub 2018 Mar 14.

Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tian tan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China; Center of Brain Tumor, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Tumor, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Background: Subependymoma is rare, and little is known about subependymoma with intratumoral hemorrhage.

Methods: A retrospective study of subependymoma was performed. Among 61 subependymomas, 4 cases of intratumoral hemorrhage were collected. Read More

Radiother Oncol 2018 04 2;127(1):103-107. Epub 2018 Mar 2.

ToNIC, Toulouse NeuroImaging Center, Université de Toulouse, Inserm, UPS, France; Department of Radiation Oncology, Institut Claudius Regaud, Institut Universitaire du Cancer de Toulouse - Oncopole, France.

Background And Purpose: Ependymoma is the third most common brain tumor in children. Radiation therapy (RT) is systematically administered after maximum surgical resection, utilizing recent advances in radiation delivery. Imaging can make a significant contribution to improving treatment outcome. Read More

Br J Neurosurg 2018 Feb 12;32(1):18-27. Epub 2018 Feb 12.

b Radiological Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience , University of Nottingham , Nottingham , UK.

Background: Despite previous identification of pre-operative clinical and radiological predictors of post-operative paediatric cerebellar mutism syndrome (CMS), a unifying pre-operative risk stratification model for use during surgical consent is currently lacking. The aim of the project is to develop a simple imaging-based pre-operative risk scoring scheme to stratify patients in terms of post-operative CMS risk.

Methods: Pre-operative radiological features were recorded for a retrospectively assembled cohort of 89 posterior fossa tumour patients from two major UK treatment centers (age 2-23yrs; gender 28 M, 61 F; diagnosis: 38 pilocytic astrocytoma, 32 medulloblastoma, 12 ependymoma, 1 high grade glioma, 1 pilomyxoid astrocytoma, 1 atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour, 1 hemangioma, 1 neurilemmoma, 2 oligodendroglioma). Read More

Emerg Radiol 2018 Apr 3;25(2):215-218. Epub 2018 Feb 3.

Department of Radiology, Radiology Specialists of Florida, Maitland, FL, USA.

Retinal detachment with subsequent silicone oil retinopexy is not uncommon. A known complication of silicone retinopexy is intraventricular migration of the intraocular silicone oil. While the oil itself does not result in direct pathology, misdiagnosis may lead to an unnecessary diagnostic workup and possibly predispose the patient to surgery intervention. Read More

Clin Cancer Res 2018 Apr 4;24(7):1654-1666. Epub 2018 Jan 4.

Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute and Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom.

Curing all children with brain tumors will require an understanding of how each subtype responds to conventional treatments and how best to combine existing and novel therapies. It is extremely challenging to acquire this knowledge in the clinic alone, especially among patients with rare tumors. Therefore, we developed a preclinical brain tumor platform to test combinations of conventional and novel therapies in a manner that closely recapitulates clinic trials. Read More

Rev Neurosci 2018 03;29(3):295-301

Department of Neurology, Sydney Children's Hospital, Randwick, NSW 2031, Australia.

Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an auto-somal-dominant inherited condition with an incidence of approximately 1:6000 births, characterised by deregulated mTOR activity with multi-site hamartomas. Subependymal giant cell astrocytomas (SEGA) are one such hamartoma, affecting up to 24% of patients with TSC. Their intraventricular location may lead to life-threatening obstructive hydrocephalus. Read More

Brain Tumor Res Treat 2017 Oct 31;5(2):127-130. Epub 2017 Oct 31.

Department of Neurosurgery, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Koera.

A 33-year-old woman presented with tingling and paresthesia on left extremity for 2 months. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed that the tumor was iso- and hypo-intensity on T1-weighted image, mixed iso- and high-signal intensity on T2-weighted images and heterogeneously enhanced with rim enhancement. Neither arachnoid cleft nor dural tail was certain but mass was located extra-axially so meningioma was suspected. Read More

Brain Tumor Res Treat 2017 Oct 31;5(2):94-98. Epub 2017 Oct 31.

Neuro-Oncology Clinic, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Korea.

Ependymoma usually arises within the ventricles and central canal of the spinal cord. These tumors, found in the sellar region, are extremely rare. We report a case of pituitary ependymoma followed up over 10 years. Read More

Oncotarget 2017 Oct 28;8(49):85290-85310. Epub 2017 Jul 28.

Lodz University of Technology, Institute of Applied Radiation Chemistry, Laboratory of Laser Molecular Spectroscopy, 93-590 Lodz, Poland.

Raman diagnostics and imaging have been shown to be an effective tool for the analysis and discrimination of human brain tumors from normal structures. Raman spectroscopic methods have potential to be applied in clinical practice as they allow for identification of tumor margins during surgery. In this study, we investigate medulloblastoma (grade IV WHO) (n= 5), low-grade astrocytoma (grades I-II WHO) (n =4), ependymoma (n=3) and metastatic brain tumors (n= 1) and the tissue from the negative margins used as normal controls. Read More

Acta Radiol 2018 Aug 24;59(8):980-987. Epub 2017 Oct 24.

Department of Radiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian, PR China.

Background Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) are reliable imaging modalities for brain tumors. However, the role of DWI and SWI in the diagnosis of common lateral ventricular tumors has not been systematically evaluated. Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic performance of DWI and SWI in common lateral ventricular tumors. Read More

Brain Tumor Pathol 2018 01 11;35(1):41-45. Epub 2017 Oct 11.

Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima-City, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan.

World Neurosurg 2017 Dec 21;108:997.e9-997.e14. Epub 2017 Sep 21.

Department of Neurologic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA. Electronic address:

Background: Giant cell ependymoma (GCE) is a rare primary central nervous system neoplasm. We report a case of GCE arising in the lateral ventricle.

Case Description: A 22-year-old female presented with generalized seizures. Read More

J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2017 Jul;76(7):595-604

Morgan Adams Foundation Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Program; Department of Pathology; and Department of Neurosurgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; and Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colorado.

Ependymoma (EPN) is a common brain tumor of childhood that, despite standard surgery and radiation therapy, has a relapse rate of 50%. Clinical trials have been unsuccessful in improving outcome by addition of chemotherapy, and identification of novel therapeutics has been hampered by a lack of in vitro and in vivo models. We describe 2 unique EPN cell lines (811 and 928) derived from recurrent intracranial metastases. Read More

Pediatr Neurosurg 2017 25;52(5):298-305. Epub 2017 Aug 25.

Department of Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, India.

Background/aims: Perfusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is useful for preoperative assessment of brain tumors. Dynamic susceptibility contrast perfusion MRI is commonly used for evaluation of brain tumors. Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI is an alternative method that has mainly been used in adult brain tumors. Read More

World Neurosurg 2017 Nov 10;107:437-444. Epub 2017 Aug 10.

Department of Neurosurgery, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.

Background: Gross total resection is often avoided in posterior fossa ependymoma surgery because of the fear of permanent neurologic deficits after operation. However, the extent of resection is a major prognostic factor for progression-free and overall survival. This study evaluates the outcome of posterior fossa ependymoma gross total resection in adult patients using a 4-hand suction-irrigation technique at the floor of the fourth ventricle. Read More

World Neurosurg 2017 Nov 9;107:1048.e7-1048.e14. Epub 2017 Aug 9.

Department of Neurological Surgery, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA. Electronic address:

Background: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement has been implicated in extraneural metastasis of many primary central nervous system tumors. Reported cases include, but are not limited to, medulloblastoma, germ cell tumor, astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, lymphoma, ependymoma, melanoma, and choroid plexus tumors. However, a literature review reveals no reported cases of extraneural metastasis of solitary fibrous tumor/hemangiopericytoma (SFT/HPC). Read More

Curr Treat Options Oncol 2017 08 10;18(9):55. Epub 2017 Aug 10.

Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology, Henry Ford Health System, 2799 W Grand Blvd, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.

Opinion Statement: Ependymomas are a subgroup of ependymal glia-derived neoplasms that affect children as well as adults. Arising within any CNS compartment, symptoms at presentation can range from acute onset due to increased intracranial pressure to insidious myelopathy. The overall survival (OS) outcomes in adult patients across the subgroups is heterogeneous with subependymoma having an excellent prognosis often even in the absence of any treatment, whereas supratentorial ependymomas tend to be higher grade in nature and may have an OS of 5 years despite gross total resection and adjuvant radiation. Read More

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 2017 07 27;18(7):1729-1735. Epub 2017 Jul 27.

Department of Internal Medicine, College of medicine, University of Duhok, Duhok, Iraq. Email:

Background: Brain tumours are the most common solid tumours in children. More than 50% of these tumours develop in the posterior cranial fossa. Long term survivors of posterior fossa tumours (PFT) suffer from neurocognitive and memory issues. Read More

Neuroradiol J 2018 Feb 11;31(1):27-31. Epub 2017 Jul 11.

1 Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Japan.

This 48-year-old-man who had undergone right thyroid lobectomy for undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma nine years earlier developed generalized seizures. His cerebrospinal fluid was xanthochromic with elevation of total protein. Computed tomography (CT) showed mixed-density bilateral ventricular masses. Read More

Hippocampus 2017 11 20;27(11):1140-1154. Epub 2017 Jul 20.

Neurosciences and Mental Health, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.

The developing hippocampus is highly sensitive to chemotherapy and cranial radiation treatments for pediatric cancers, yet little is known about the effects that cancer treatents have on specific hippocampal subfields. Here, we examined hippocampal subfield volumes in 29 pediatric brain tumor survivors treated with cranial radiation and chemotherapy, and 30 healthy developing children and adolescents. We also examined associations between hippocampal subfield volumes and short-term verbal memory. Read More

J Neurooncol 2017 Sep 26;134(2):339-347. Epub 2017 Jun 26.

Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tian Tan Hospital, Capital Medical University, 6 Tiantan Xili, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100050, People's Republic of China.

Tanycytic ependymoma is a rare subtybe of ependymoma with a predilection for the spinal cord and intracranial tanycytic ependymoma is thus extremely rare. Most studies on intracranial tanycytic ependymomas included only one or two cases. Here we report nine patients with pathologically confirmed intracranial tanycytic ependymomas. Read More

World Neurosurg 2017 Oct 21;106:60-73. Epub 2017 Jun 21.

Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tian Tan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Department of Neurotrauma, Beijing Neurosurgical Institute, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; Nerve Injury and Repair Center of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, China; China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Beijing, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Central Nervous System Injury, Beijing, China. Electronic address:

Objective: Spinal cord tanycytic ependymomas (TEs) rarely are reported because of extremely low incidence. Understanding of this disease is therefore poor. The aim of this study was to analyze the incidence and clinical, radiologic, pathologic, and prognostic features of spinal cord TEs. Read More

Neuroradiol J 2017 Jun 1;30(3):274-280. Epub 2017 Jan 1.

1 Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Science, Division of Radiology, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.

Ependymal tumours in adults are rare, accounting for less than 4% of primary tumours of the central nervous system, and exceptionally metastasise outside the nervous system. In this study, we present a case of anaplastic ependymoma, which developed metastases outside the nervous system less than a year after its clinical onset. A healthy 65-year-old woman suddenly presented with drowsiness of unknown origin, accompanied by ingravescent fatigue, inability to maintain the upright posture, headache, nausea and vomiting. Read More