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Review
. 2022 May 13;101(19):e29237.
doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000029237.

Glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands in the spinal cord: A case report and literature review

Honglei Liu  1 , Can Wang  2 , Lei Lou  2 , Yuehong Li  2 , Li Yi  2
Affiliations
Review

Glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands in the spinal cord: A case report and literature review

Honglei Liu et al. Medicine (Baltimore). .

Abstract

Rationale: Glioneuronal tumor with neuropil-like islands (GTNI) is a distinctive neoplasm located in the cerebrum. Moreover, spinal GTNI is extremely rare. Herein, we present a case of spinal GTNI and review the related literature.

Patient concerns: A 38-year-old Chinese woman presented to our hospital with a 6-month history of neck pain and a 1-month history of dizziness.

Diagnoses: Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large intramedullary mass spanning the length of the spinal cord from C1 to C4. Microscopic and immunohistochemical examinations of the tumor tissue revealed findings typical of GTNI.

Interventions: The patient underwent C1 to C4 intraspinal gross tumor resection.

Outcomes: Follow-up results showed that the patient had no recurrence 6 months after tumor resection.

Lessons: GTNI in the spinal cord is a highly rare neoplasm with poor prognosis. Therefore, clinicians and pathologists should differentiate GTNI from other benign glioneuronal tumors, and long-term follow-up of patients with spinal GTNI is necessary.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Magnetic resonance imaging reveals the primary intramedullary lesion extending from C1 to C4, characterized by T1-weighted imaging hypointensity (A) and T2-weighted imaging hyperintensity (B), and intensity is enhanced after contrast medium administration (C).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A, B) Loose sheets of uniform, small tumor cells intervening between neuropil-like islands (hematoxylin and eosin, 40× [A]; 100× [B]). (C) Rimming an island, an astrocytic component with ganglion-like cells is observed (hematoxylin and eosin, 200×).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is strongly positive in the astrocytic component (immunohistochemistry [IHC], 100×). (B) The astrocytic component is decorated by Oligo-2 (IHC, 100×). (C) Synaptophysin immunostaining highlights the neuropil-like islands (IHC, 100×). (D) The ganglion-like cells are immunopositive for neuronal nuclear protein (IHC, 100×). (E) The Ki-67 proliferation index reached 5% in the astrocytic component and less than 1% in the neuropil-like islands (IHC, 100×).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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