TUMORS OF THE PINEAL BODY

Haemangiopericytoma of the pineal body.

Pineal region tumors.

The management of pineal region tumors has changed considerably since the introduction of microsurgery and CT scanning. Analysis of our own series of 36 patients, comparing those treated in the pre-CT scan and microsurgery era with those treated afterwards, shows the important role these two techniques play. Current controversies in treatment and our own approach to management of pineal region ...

Pineal Region Tumors

The pineal region can be affected by different types of lesions, ranging from benign masses (e.g. pineal cysts) to highly malignant tumors. These neoplasms are typical of the pediatric age, while they are rarer in adults. Due to the extreme heterogeneity of the cell types of the pineal gland and its surrounding structures, these tumors include several entities, namely germ cell tumors (GCTs), w...

Pineal Region Tumors

Tumors of the pineal region can be divided into three categories (Rubinstein, 1970): (1) germ cell tumors, which range from surgically curable mature teratomas to the malignant germ cell tumors capable of metastasizing throughout the neuraxis; (2) pineal parenchymal tumors, such as the low-grade pineocytoma and the malignant pineoblastoma; and (3) other tumors such as intra-axial astrocytomas, ...

MR imaging of pineal tumors.

MR images of pineal region tumors were analyzed in 26 patients with histologically proved tumors: seven germ-cell tumors, six astrocytomas, five teratomas, three pineoblastomas, two meningiomas, one dermoid, one epidermoid, and one metastasis. In an attempt to identify specific MR characteristics of these lesions, Gd-DTPA was administered to six patients. CSF and blood serum were assayed for al...