Intraoperative diagnosis of tanycytic ependymoma: pitfalls and differential diagnosis

Smear preparations have become increasingly popular in the intraoperative assessment of central nervous system pathology. The cytological features of a histologically proven tanycytic ependymoma are presented with the pitfalls and differential diagnosis. The smear preparation showed a glial neoplasm composed of cells with long, bipolar glial processes and oval to spindle-shaped nuclei resembling those seen in pilocytic astrocytoma smears. The smear characteristics of an ependymoma usually show remarkably uniform round-to-oval nuclei, fluffy glial processes, and a perivascular nuclear-free zone (pseudorosetting). None of these features were present in our case. The accompanying frozen section showed a fascicular spindle-cell tumor that resembled a schwanomma, a commonly reported misinterpretation of the histology of tanycytic ependymomas on frozen sections. Careful attention to the radiological findings, the surgeon's impression, and the intraoperative smear preparation details should allow one to include this uncommon entity in the differential diagnosis of spinal neoplasms.