Pediatric chordoid glioma with chondroid metaplasia.

Chordoid gliomas are uncommon primary brain tumors that arise in the region of the third ventricle. Reports of this entity to date have been limited to adults. We present a case of a chordoid glioma arising in the hypothalamic/third ventricle region of a 12-year-old male who presented with visual symptoms. The neoplasm consisted of cords and clusters of well-differentiated, spindled-to-rounded cells containing abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm within a prominent mucinous matrix. Unlike other chordoid gliomas, this lesion contained islands and sheets showing cartilaginous differentiation intermixed with the glial component. A graded transition between neoplastic glial and chondroid regions was evident, and cells in both regions were strongly immunoreactive for GFAP and S-100. Cartilaginous metaplasia is infrequent in gliomas, but occurs most often in pediatric neoplasms of the midline such as this chordoid glioma. Thus, chondroid metaplasia represents an unusual histopathologic feature of chordoid glioma-in this case, presenting in a child.

Rhabdoid tumors of the kidney in children: CT findings.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to identify CT characteristics of rhabdoid tumor of the kidney, a rare, aggressive, malignant neoplasm of unknown origin that occurs mainly in infants and young children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: CT scans of eight children (newborn to 13 years old; mode, 4 months old; six boys and two girls) with histopathologic diagnosis of rhabdoid tumor of the kidney were evaluated retrospectively by two of the authors, who were not blinded to the diagnosis. All eight CT scans were performed with intravenous and oral contrast, and noncontrast intravenous CT scans were available in four cases. The following CT characteristics were evaluated: location of tumor within the kidney; presence of calcification, subcapsular hematoma, multiple tumor lobules, enlarged vessels, vascular invasion, or central tumor necrosis or hemorrhage; visibility of tumor margin; distant metastasis; and primary tumor size. RESULTS: All eight primary tumors (five on the left, one of which had contralateral renal nodules) were central in location and involved the hilum. Calcification outlining the tumor lobule was present in two of the four tumors on noncontrast CT scans. Subcapsular hematoma was seen in five children. Tumor necrosis and hemorrhage were seen in seven children. Tumors were well defined from the renal cortex in four children. Lobules of tumor were seen in seven children. CONCLUSION: CT findings of calcification, subcapsular hematoma, and lobular appearance in a large, centrally located, and heterogeneous renal mass in a child suggest a rhabdoid tumor of the kidney.

Extraadrenal myelolipoma. A report of two cases.

Two cases of extraadrenal myelolipoma with unusual clinicopathologic features are described. The patient in case 1 had multifocal myelolipomas, involving both the lung and retroperitoneum, that mimicked malignancy, and the patient in case 2 had a single diffuse retroperitoneal myelolipoma without circumscription. Of possible etiologic significance is the fact that both patients were treated with exogenous steroids.