11/16/2004 Case 2: Anaplastic granular cell astrocytoma

Clinical History:

This 50 year old woman came to NYU from Montgomery, Alabama. She had had a 3 week history of personality change and memory difficulties, followed by onset of headaches. An MRI showed a 7 x 8 cm tumor in the rostrum of the corpus callosum, which was biopsied stereotactically in Montgomery. Following the diagnosis there she came to NYU for a surgical opinion as an option instead of the recommended radiation therapy. Because of considerable mass effect a volumetric resection was performed.

Diagnostic Notes:

The slide distributed showed a malignant tumor with large cells with granular cytoplasm, growing in an almost epithelioid pattern. There was some necrosis . The differential diagnosis histologically was felt to include metastatic carcinoma, a histiocytic sarcoma, and granular cell glioblastoma. The cells were mostly or all vimentin immunopositive, with only a few having GFAP immunopositivity. Many cells were positive for CD68/KP1, EMA, and PAS. A minority were S100 positive as well. The diagnosis was Granular Cell Glioblastoma.

Slide Image:

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