Adult Intracranial Gliofibroma : A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Gliofibroma is an extremely rare biphasic tumor with an astrocytic and benign mesenchymal component, which commonly occurs within the first two decades of life. The exact biological behavior of the tumor is not fully understood. Therefore, it is not listed as a distinct entity in the current World Health Organization classification of central nervous system tumors. Here, we describe a rare case of gliofibroma, which was located on the medial temporal lobe in a 61-year-old woman. Preoperatively, we misdiagnosed it as a meningioma because it was a well-demarcated and well-enhanced extra-axial mass with calcification and bony destruction. On the histopathological and immunohistochemical examination, the tumor consisted of a mixture of glial tissue and mesenchymal tissue and it was finally diagnosed as a gliofibroma. To our knowledge, this case of intracranial gliofibroma is in the oldest patient ever reported.

WHO Grade IV Gliofibroma: A Grading Label Denoting Malignancy for an Otherwise Commonly Misinterpreted Neoplasm

We report a 50-year-old woman with no relevant clinical history who presented with headache and loss of memory. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a left parieto-temporal mass with annular enhancement after contrast media administration, rendering a radiological diagnosis of high-grade astrocytic neoplasm. Tumour sampling was performed but the patient ultimately died as a result of disease. Microscopically, the lesion had areas of glioblastoma mixed with a benign mesenchymal constituent; the former showed hypercellularity, endothelial proliferation, high mitotic activity and necrosis, while the latter showed fascicles of long spindle cells surrounded by collagen and reticulin fibers. With approximately 40 previously reported cases, gliofibroma is a rare neoplasm defined as either glio-desmoplastic or glial/benign mesenchymal. As shown in our case, its prognosis is apparently determined by the degree of anaplasia of the glial component.