Intracisternal microtubular aggregates in classic (non chondroid) chordoma

A case of unequivocal and classic (non chondroid) chordoma with cells including microtubular aggregates is reported. Parallel arrays of straight or slightly curved and evenly spaced 22-26 nm microtubules, showing a fine periodicity and without internal structure, were confined within dilated cisternae. These cisternae were characterized by a single layered limiting membrane, without associated ribosomes. This is the second reported occurrence of such microtubules in a spheno-occipital classic chordoma. It emphasizes the nonspecificity of this finding namely in reference to extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma or chondroid chordoma. Furthermore, intracytoplasmic true lumina were found to partly account for the cellular vacuolar character on light microscopy, an observation generally underscored in chordoma cells.