A cerebral neuroblastoma with extracranial metastases

A rare case of cerebral neuroblastoma with extracranial metastases is reported. This patient was followed for over ten years. The biopsy specimen of the brain tumor taken at the first operation revealed the architecture of a poorly differentiated ependymoma having perivascular rosettes. The histological pattern of the second biopsy taken eight years after the first operation was highly cellular and vascular with abundant mitoses, showing Homer-Wright rosettes. The histological diagnosis of this second specimen was a cerebral neuroblastoma. The problem of the multipotentiality of the brain tumor is discussed.