Cerebral medulloepithelioma. Report of a case with multiple divergent neuroepithelial differentiation

Abstract

A cerebral medulloepithelioma, a rare embryonal multipotential central neuroepithelial neoplasm of childhood, is described, bringing to 16 the total number of cases reported in the literature. It is the first example recorded to date which displayed the entire range of differentiation from embryonal to mature cells, of both glial and neuronal lineage (i.e., primitive medullary epithelium, spongioblasts, astrocytes, oligodendroglia, ependymal cells, neuroblasts, and mature ganglion cells). The significance of this tumor as a paradigm of multipotential divergent neuroepithelial differentiation is discussed.