Cerebellopontine angle subependymoma without fourth ventricle extension: an uncommon tumor in a rare location.

Subependymomas are benign tumors that occur predominantly in the ventricular system. We describe a case of a 57-year-old man with a large cerebellopontine angle (CPA) tumor which expanded into the jugular foramen. Complete surgical excision of the tumor was achieved through a retrosigmoid approach and the histopathological diagnosis was subependymoma.

Genetic and expression profiles of cerebellar liponeurocytomas.

Cerebellar liponeurocytoma, a rare, newly identified CNS neoplasm of adults, is characterized by advanced neuronal/neurocytic and focal lipomatous differentiation, low proliferative potential and a favorable clinical prognosis. Despite the different age distribution and benign biological behavior, the cerebellar liponeurocytoma shares several features with the cerebellar medulloblastoma, which may include an origin from the periventricular matrix of the fourth ventricle or the external granular layer of the cerebellum. To establish the genetic profile of cerebellar liponeurocytomas, we have formed an international consortium and collected tumor samples from 20 patients.

Cerebellar liponeurocytoma: a newly recognized clinico-pathological entity.

The term "cerebellar liponeurocytoma", recently adopted by the World Health Organization Working Group (WHO), replaced many other different terms used up to now to give name to this rare tumor. To our knowledge, less than 20 cases have been related up to now under different names like as "lipomatous medulloblastoma, lipidized medulloblastoma, neurolipocytoma, medullocytoma and lipomatous glioneurocytoma". The new nomenclature eliminates the word "medulloblastoma", reinforces its benign character, and includes it in the category of glioneuronal tumors.