A rare brainstem anaplastic astrocytoma.

Background: Anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) is rarely observed in the brainstem and the clinical symptoms and imaging manifestations vary, which present a great challenge to accurate clinical diagnosis.

Case Description: A 56-year-old woman, with a month-long history of nausea and vomiting, was first diagnosed with acute cerebral infarction and demyelinating disease. The patient showed negative results on enhanced magnetic resonance and F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography, and the clinical symptoms were not typical, leading to early misdiagnosis.

Conclusion: Finally, the patient was diagnosed with AA by pathological biopsy.