A forum dedicated to the expansion in neuropathology knowledge for students and practitioners alike.
Mystery case review #3 is one of a series of videos designed to review the variety of brain tumors that arise in the context of a familial tumor syndromes. Test your knowledge with questions posed to the audience in a quiz like format. In-depth answers are provided for each quiz question. This series is perfect... Continue Reading →
Mystery case review #1 is the first of a series of videos designed to review the variety of brain tumors that arise in the context of a familial tumor syndromes. Test your knowledge with questions posed to the audience in a quiz like format. In-depth answers are provided for each quiz question. This series is... Continue Reading →
Vascular brain lesions have increased risk of intracranial bleeding and, therefore, present a challenge to neurosurgeons attempting surgical resection. Such tumors may first be embolized prior to surgical excision in order to reduce the risk of bleeding. Onyx, an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer, is one of many embolic agents available to accomplish this task. Onyx has... Continue Reading →
The hippocampus is critical to learning and memory. Patients with hippocampal atrophy often have difficulty with declarative memory (i.e. remembering facts, names, events, etc.) and making new memories. Hippocampal atrophy can be seen a variety of disease processes, including epilepsy and neurodegenerative disease. Note how atrophy in this elderly patient, who had memory difficulties prior to... Continue Reading →
Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) is a type of brain damage that affects fetuses and premature babies. At this stage of brain development, the white matter surrounding the ventricles is particularly vulnerable to hypoxic (lack of oxygen) or ischemic (lack of blood flow) injury for a variety of reasons, including high metabolic demand in a location that... Continue Reading →
Cranial nerve schwannomas most commonly arise from Schwann cells that myelinate the distal aspect of the vestibular division of the 8th cranial nerve. Vestibular schwannomas, sometimes referred to by the double misnomer "acoustic neuroma" (it is a double misnomer because they are not neuromas and they do not usually involve the acoustic division of cranial... Continue Reading →
Naegleria fowleri, better known as "brain-eating amoeba", is a free-living amoeba that is a major cause of a rare brain infection called Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis, which typically affects young people with a history of swimming in warm fresh water such as a lake or stream. After entering the nose and crawling up the olfactory nerves... Continue Reading →
The brain is surrounded by several layers of protective coverings collectively called meninges. The semi-translucent innermost layers, called the leptomeninges, form a "shrink-wrap" around the brain that allows for easy flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) along the outer surface of central nervous system structures. Unfortunately, it also allows for easy spread of neoplastic cells. The image shows the inferior aspect... Continue Reading →
Myxopapillary ependymoma arises in the lumbar region of the spinal cord and typically produces symptoms associated with impingement of the spinal nerve roots of the cauda equina. It usually appears as an oval or sausage-shaped contrast-enhancing mass, like the one pictured in this MRI image (sagittal post-contrast T1 Fat-sat). The myxopapillary ependymoma in the inset photograph represents a gross surgical... Continue Reading →
The secretory subtype of meningioma (pictured here) is just one of many variants of meningioma, a usually histologically benign tumor that arises from the meninges (i.e. the outer coverings overlying the brain) and often contains concentrically-layered calcifications called psammoma bodies. The secretory variant can be suspected on imaging by the exuberant edema often seen in the adjacent brain tissue. Microscopically,... Continue Reading →
Adventures in Neuropathology 