Ependymoma tends to occur commonly along either on ventricular surfaces of the brain or central canal of the spinal cord. Rarely, ependymoma can develop in the cerebral cortex without attachment to the ventricular structures. However, such occurrence in the purely extra-axial compartment in the falcine region mimicking falcine meningioma is exceedingly rare. The detailed search of primary falci...

Ependymomas are relatively rare neoplasms of the central nervous system that typically develop along cerebral ventricles and central canal of spinal cord. Occasionally, the tumours of ependymal origin arise supratentorially in brain parenchyma as ectopic cortical mass without any connection to the ventricular system. Ependymomas are heterogeneous group of tumours including cellular, papillary, ...

Tanycytic ependymoma is a rare subtype of ependymoma that most commonly occurs in the brain. Senile tanycytic ependymoma that arises from the spinal cord is extremely rare. The present study reported the case of a 65-year-old woman who presented with a 4-day history of numbness in both lower limbs accompanied by an increased urinary frequency and constipation. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) o...

BACKGROUND The association of a hemorrhagic tumor with secondary superficial siderosis (SS) is a relatively rare although well described phenomenon. CASE DESCRIPTION We present the case report of a 35-year-old male with a history of drowsiness, hypoacusia, drop attacks, and multidirectional nystagmus during the last 2 months, who presented with acute obstructive hydrocephalus caused by a four...

Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) is a protein involved in single strand break repair. Recently, PARP inhibitors have shown considerable promise in the treatment of several cancers, both in monotherapy and in combination with cytotoxic agents. Synthetic lethal action of PARP inhibitors has been observed in tumors with mutations in double strand break repair pathways. In addition, PARP inhibitio...

BACKGROUND Intramedullary spinal ependymoma is a tumor, hardly characterizable with conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging only. MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with three-dimensional fiber-tracking reconstructions allows the evaluation of the relationship between neoplasm and white matter fiber tracts, being a powerful tool in presurgical planning. We present DTI findings in a case of ...

Ependymoma accounts for 6-12% of all intracranial tumors, but only 6 cases of melanotic ependymoma have been reported. Sellar ependymomas are also extremely rare, with only 5 cases reported in the pituitary fossa. A 26-year-old man presented with an extremely rare case of primary intrasellar melanotic ependymoma manifesting as consistent frontalgia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a sellar le...

UNLABELLED Anaplastic ependymoma is a rare brain tumor, induced both in the brain and the spine. The treatment relies on surgery and radiotherapy. Upon failure of these treatments, chemotherapy has modest effects. Here, we report two cases of anaplastic ependymoma with prolonged radiological and clinical responses to a metronomic cyclophosphamide, cisplatin and bevacizumab regimen. Two patients...

We describe the successful heterotransplantation of a human ependymoma in CBA/CaJ mice immune deprived by infant thymectomy and whole-body irradiation. The xenograft, HxBr5, was established from a fourth ventricular ependymoma, locally recurrent in an 11-yr-old girl who had been treated with radiation therapy to the posterior fossa. HxBr5 retains histological and ultrastructural fidelity to the...

BACKGROUND Despite previous research, prognostic factors for ependymoma remain relatively controversial. The purpose of our study was to examine demographic, clinical, and tumor attributes as potential predictors of survival using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program data (1973-2007). METHODS All ependymoma (ICD-O-3 code 9391) and anaplastic ependymoma cases (ICD-O-3 cod...