Pelvic ependymoma arising from the small bowel

Abstract

A 37-year-old woman underwent resection of an abdominal tumour which was adherent to the wall of the ileum. The diagnosis of an ependymoma was supported by evidence of typical perivascular pseudorosettes which stained positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein and contained abundant intermediate filaments within the elongated processes by electron microscopy. Flow cytometric study showed a diploid population of tumour cells. This is the first case of an ependymoma arising from the small bowel without any connection to the genital tract, the omentum or with the sacroccygeal area. As is the case with other unusual and ectopic localisations of ependymomas, prognosis of this tumour is difficult to evaluate.