Prenatal sonographic evaluation of two intracranial teratomas

Prenatal sonographic evaluation is of utmost importance in the detection of congenital anomalies. At the Ultrasound Section of our Radiology service, we incidentally detected fetal intracranial neoplasms in two different patients using non-invasive imaging. Our presumptive diagnosis in both cases was a teratoma, the most common brain tumor in the perinatal period. Subsequent confirmation was provided with pathological samples obtained at autopsy in both patients, revealing immature teratomas. Fetal intracranial tumors are so rare and incredibly, these two unique cases presented in our section within just a few months of one another.

The contribution of immunohistochemistry in the diagnosis of pediatric neoplastic lesions in the University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine

Immunohistochemistry has revolutionized the field of diagnostic pathology in the past fifteen years. Since then, it has been increasingly used as an adjunct to morphological diagnosis. The purpose of this retrospective analysis is to examine the value of this technique in the diagnosis of pediatric neoplasias in our laboratory. Forty eight pediatric cases, collected from January 1998 until May 1999, were reviewed, and classified in one of four categories: confirmed the morphological diagnosis, provided the definite diagnosis from a list of probable diagnoses, contributed by excluding other entities, and non-contributory. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the morphological diagnosis in 29 cases (60.4), provided the definite diagnosis from a list of probable diagnoses in 13 cases (27.1), was contributory by exclusion of other entities in 2 cases (4.2), and was non-contributory in 4 cases (8.3). In this preliminary study, we conclude that immunohistochemistry is being used in our laboratory mostly as a confirmatory tool for the definitive diagnosis of the lesions and once more exalts the utility of this technology in the field of diagnostic pathology.