[Central neurocytoma: a study of five cases]

Central neurocytoma is a very rare brain tumour recently described. The diagnosis rests on the data provided by anatomopathological examination and immunohistochemestry. We report a retrospective study of five cases of neurocytoma diagnosed in the Pathological laboratories of Anatomy and Cytology of Habib Bourguiba and Fattouma Bourguiba Hospitals over a period of two years (1999/2000); this study was based on clinical, radiological and anatomopathological data. It was about three women and two men with an average age of 29 years (17 to 49 years) The tumor was located in the side ventricles in three cases. Two differential diagnoses were often discussed: oligodendroglioma and ependymoma. Immunohistochemistry showed an expression of the synaptophysine in every case. The treatment was exclusively surgical and the course was favourable with an average follow up of 48 months; only one case of relapse was noted of 36 months after the diagnosis.