Spinal cord, Myxopapillary ependymoma [LMP57188]

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Image Details
Diagnostic Modality: 
Whole Slide Image
Disease Category: 
Neoplasia
Diagnosis: 
Myxopapillary ependymoma
Species: 
Human
Organ System: 
Central Nervous System
Gender: 
Female
Age: 
50 years
Diagnosis Code: 
ICD-10: D43.2 | ICD-O: 9394/1
Slide Contributor Information
Hodgson, A., Mete, O.

Keywords

ependymoma, myxopapillary, cauda equina, filum terminale

Clinical History

50-year old female with footdrop and spinal cord lesion at cauda equina.

Clinical Discussion

Myxopapillary ependymoma is a variant of ependymoma which occurs almost exclusively in the region of the filum terminale. Rare cases can be encountered intracranially or in soft tissue of the sacral region. These tumours are histologically characterized by tumour cells which are radially arranged in a papillary manner around vascular stromal cores with perivascular mucoid deposition and degeneration. The differential diagnosis includes chordoma, myxoid chondrosarcoma, paraganglioma, mesothelioma, and papillary adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemically, they are positive for GFAP, S-100, and vimentin. Cytokeratin staining is typically absent. These lesions usually have an excellent prognosis, especially when resected intact. Myxopapillary ependymomas arising in the soft tissue may metastasize to distant sites.