Brain tumors
Tip
Most tumors are glial origin, except for medulloblastoma (neural origin).
Adult tumors
Glioblastoma multiforme
- A highly malignant tumor derived from glial cells (e.g., astrocytes)
- Most common malignant brain tumor
Tip
- True Palisading (in Schwannoma): Cells actively arrange themselves in an organized way (e.g., around vessels or fibrillary cores).
- Pseudopalisading (in GBM): Cells are reactively compacted around an area of necrosis, primarily due to the tumor outgrowing its blood supply and cells migrating away from the dead center.
- MRI would likely reveal a mass with central hemorrhagic necrosis, vasogenic edema, and possible extension to the contralateral hemisphere.
Oligodendroglioma
"O" is like an egg
Eat egg will increase your calcium.
Meningioma
Schwannoma
Childhood tumors
Pilocytic astrocytoma
Eosinophilic fibers with corkscrew appearance (Rosenthal fibers)
Mnemonic
astROSEcytoma
Medulloblastoma
- highly malignant tumor
- Biopsy: anaplastic small round blue cells that surround a central neuropil (Homer-Wright rosettes)
Mnemonic
- Malignant and small blue cells -> Med-Blue-oblastoma
- Also remember the "Homer Wright" as "home right", because the tumor is so malignant that there is nothing doctors can do except for sending patients right to home without hesitation.
Ependymoma
- Description: a tumor that arises from ependymal cells of the ventricular system
- Associated conditions: NF2
- Clinical features: the 4th ventricle is the most common location in children → noncommunicating hydrocephalus → features of increased intracranial pressure (e.g., papilledema, headache)
- Biopsy
- Perivascular pseudorosettes
- Rod-shaped bodies (blepharoplasts) near the nucleus
Mnemonic
"Momma's pending gift is pseudo roses" (to make up for being a crap kid)...
Craniopharyngioma
- a benign dysontogenetic tumor arising from a remnant of the Rathke pouch (ectodermal derivative)
- Rathke pouch eventually develops into the anterior pituitary.
- Rathke pouch eventually develops into the anterior pituitary.
- Biopsy: cholesterol crystals found in a motor oil-like fluid on gross examination
Mnemonic
For Craniopharyngioma what i came up with was "remnants of WRATH" and i imagine a story like thats a gang or a motorcylcist group whose logo is a cranium.
Pineal gland tumors
- Parinaud syndrome, a condition involving the inability to look up.
Mnemonic
- Pineal gland tumors -> Parinaud syndrome
- Consider Parinaud’s syndrome when you find someone’s peerin’ odd.
Spinal tumors
- Intramedullary space: space inside the spinal cord itself. Examples include primary spinal tumors (eg, ependymoma, astrocytoma).
- Intradural extramedullary space: space within the meninges (ie, inside the dura but outside the spinal cord). Examples include nerve sheath tumors (eg, schwannoma, neurofibroma) and tumors that originate from the meninges (eg, meningiomas).
- Extradural space: everything outside the dura, which includes the epidural space and the osseous vertebral body. Examples include vertebral metastases.