Simultaneous conus medullaris ependymoma and cerebellar astrocytoma in the same patient

Multiple primary tumors in the central nervous system of different histological cell types are uncommon. We report a patient who had pilocytic astrocytoma in the cerebellum and ependymoma in the cauda equina region, occurring simultaneously. The suggested mechanism of this association is that primitive multipotent cells might have been displaced in the different CNS areas and developed in different tumor cells. Multiplicity of primary CNS tumors should be considered in certain occasions, when clinical symptoms and signs are pointing in that direction.