Neurocitoma central
Introduction. A central neurocytoma (CN) is a rare tumour, of neuronal origin, well-differentiated and found intraventricularly. It mainly affects young adults. Firm diagnosis is made on immunohistochemical (IHQ) and ultrastructural studies, since on optic microscopy it is similar in appearance to an oligodendroglioma or to an ependymoma. Patients and methods. We studied 4 cases, three after surgical resection and one on autopsy. The average age was 29, ranging from 3 to 63. Both sexes were equally affected. In all cases IHQ techniques were used (GFAP, neurofilament, synaptophysin and specific neuronal enolase) and they were studied by electron microscopy. Results. IHQ was negative for GFAP and neurofilament, but intensely positive for synaptophysin and specific neuronal enolase. On ultrastructural study there were few neurofilaments, microtubules and dense central granules typical of neural differentiation. Conclusions. The findings in our cases lead to diagnosis of NC and confirm that this tumour is a distinct clinicopathological entity
Pacientes y métodos Se procesaron 4 casos, 3 procedentes de resección quirúrgica y 1 de autopsia. La edad media fue de 29 años, con una rango entre 3 y 63 años; ambos sexos se afectaron por igual. A todos los casos se les realizó técnicas de IHQ (GFAP, neurofilamento, sinaptofisina y enolasa neuronal específica) y se estudiaron por microscopía electrónica.
Resultados La IHQ resultó negativa para la GFAP y para el neurofilamento, y fue intensamente positiva para la sinaptofisina y la enolasa neuronal específica. El aspecto ultraestructural evidenció escasos neurofilamentos, microtúbulos y gránulos de centro denso propios de la diferenciación neural.
Conclusiones Los hallazgos encontrados en nuestros casos permitieron realizar el diagnóstico de NC y confirmaron a este tumor como una entidad clinicopatológica distintiva
